Complicated
by The-Plot-Thinens
Summary: John Smith is a professor at a prestigious university and had what some would describe as the perfect life. Now with the perfect wife, his life seems complete. Though Mrs. Smith might have signed up for more than she bargained for when she had first considered John's age gap. Sort of a retelling of Doctor Who season 1 with complications. See it through it gets better, promise.
1. Chapter 1

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens

Chapter 1  
John had it all

Doctor John Smith had it all, a great job as a professor of Physics at the local university. Well not just Physics, sometimes he would teach a class on several different subjects other than physics. One might say he was a PHD on several subjects in fact. This made him invaluable at university and he was never short on work and in the current economy, work was always a good thing. His only personal problems were dealing with a bizarre string of dreams and nightmares that he wrote down in a dream journal as suggested by a colleague of his. Perhaps one day he would make sense of them and discover his fixation on blue boxes.

He had a lovely Victorian era home, complete with a white picket fence, right outside of town and 20 minutes from work. Away from the subject of work, John was not the most handsome of men, but he was charismatic, charming and clever. With another worldly air that drew people to him like a magnet, he had no trouble becoming one of the most sought after professors on campus. He observed more than once that he caught the eye of some of his fellow employees and some students and depending on the reasons he was sought after, might have gotten him into a few uncomfortable situations once or twice. Fortunately, his best friend, Jack the Janitor, always seemed to be nearby when he needed saving. But for the most part he enjoyed the uncomplicated respect and admiration of his pupils and colleagues.

Because of the above mentioned it was all the more painful, for a few individuals, the day that John Smith was clearly and without a doubt off the market. John Smith as it turns out was not at all interested in dating anyone in his normal sphere and fell in love with a university store shop girl. They had met several times before while John was rushing to buy dry erase markers or some other school supply needed for his lessons. However, it wasn't until they had both caught each other late at night at the local Chippy restaurant off campus that they began to strike up real conversation. Well a conversation ensued after John had impressively rescued her, using just a cricket ball, from some muggers in an alley behind the Chippy. After filling out police reports the woman had treated him to chips as thanks. The conversation went greater than could be expected for two people with such different backgrounds and age gap. Despite her lack of academic education, John found her brilliant and saw that she had every potential for greatness if given the opportunity to apply it. He loved how she caught on so fast to his ramblings on various subjects. She could even keep up with him better than most of his students though she might not have understood everything he said. The two became inseparable partners in crime. They were always heading off on local adventures on weekends and ambling around the campus between work hours on weekdays. At first they shyly insisted that they were just friends and nothing more. They were almost comical to look at being so different from each other but on-lookers just shrugged and assumed that two extremely eccentric people had simply found a kindred spirit in each other. Eventually even those who knew them had to admit that their affection for each other, although unlikely, was genuine. They never had a lack of subjects to talk about and even thought it turned some head, and took a great deal of convincing from her mother, Rose Tyler became John Smith's wife after what some would describe as a whirl wind courtship.

They had been living happily, Rose even going back to school this term to get her A-levels now that she only had to work part-time, for now. Rose was a sponge for knowledge and now given the opportunity to learn again she was making great progress. And the sky was the limits as to what she could do with her life. Needless to say she and John were building up quite the wanderlust for the future. To celebrate her current success John and Rose had decided to attend a university ball that was sure to be an enchanting evening.

However, none of that mattered now because John Smith was finding himself being threatened by four familiar faces on campus brandishing weapons that disintegrate people! John was confused and frightened for his wife who has been snatched up by one of the lunatics. These four people were quite obviously crazy and wanted him to stop being human and change back into a Time Lord! Whatever that is? He just wished they would direct their insanity in some other direction other than him and his wife.  
"We may have ended up leaving you alone for a while longer than planned, but we found you!" hissed Brother of Blood. Smirking he tugged on Rose's hair.

"I see you've been busy while we've been getting that vortex manipulator to lock on you. Did you enjoy your extended time as a human? I smell you all over this one."

John was getting angry and about to do something desperate in an attempt to save his wife. When suddenly Jack the Janitor busted into the room toting a gun that looked like it belonged in a space movie! Why? John didn't care because for whatever the reason the crazies were buying it. Jack took control of the situation and managed to clear the hall of its entire remaining guest. He then ferried Rose and John away from the mad peoples' clutches.

Their odd night was now continuing in Jack's 'office'. It was more of a broom closet but out of the way and a good place to hide. It clearly did not look like your typical janitor's closet and was littered with space age looking collectables.

"Doc! It's time to change back, you've been found out!" Implored Jack to John handing him a silver fob watch with odd characters on it. Nothing was making sense to John and he was beginning to wonder if something was in the water making everyone crazy.

"What do ya mean change back? John, this can't make less sense, yeah?" asked Rose leaning onto her husband's arm.

"Of course it doesn't make any sense! He's forgotten who he used to be! But you can remember it all if you just open this watch up, Doc! Come on, I haven't been cleaning toilets for 18 months just for the universe to be destroyed now!" Explained Jack to the dark haired man.

"What those four people said is correct. You're the Doctor. You are a Time Lord hiding from the Family of Blood! You've been in hiding for over a year now. They are alien hunters who want to consume your life force so that they can live forever! The whole universe is in danger if you don't open this watch now!" cried Jack.

"You're just as crazy as they are Jack! Let's just call the police and let them sort it!" shouted John at a flustered Jack.

"Oh sure, bring the lambs to the slaughter, just look at the watch, Doc! That's all I ask! Then you'll remember everything! You asked me to keep an eye on you if something like this happened while you were in hiding! I've been your companion on your little misadventures since we met during the Blitz in London! You saved my life and now I'm returning the favor!" countered Jack. John raised his eyebrow indignantly at Jack who just frustratingly gestured at the fob watch. Smith then reluctantly diverted his eyes to the silver fob watch. It seemed to be an ordinary watch nothing at all important about it, but it felt warmer than cold metal should. He found himself starting to feel almost hypnotized by the small metal thing. He was about to open the catch when he caught himself. He dropped the watch to the floor, though not sure why. All he knew was that he felt driven to distance himself from it like a survival instinct. Not catching John's mood Rose laughed in spite of herself.

"It's just a watch, how scary can it be?" Rose bent down and pick up the watch, it was warm and inviting like a handshake from a new friend that you knew you would get along swimmingly with. She opened the catch and golden light spewed out from it surprising everyone in the room but Jack. As she peered into the watch the information dawned on her. Rose closed the watch and stared at it before raising her head to her husband.

"You're n' alien…Jack's right. You're the Doctah." Rose said in disbelief. John looked besides himself. He was beginning to think that this was one big prank being played on him and he could not believe that his own wife was in on such a sick joke.

"Rose, you are far too fantastic a person to be involved in this sort of thing! It's a bad joke! End it already!" he barked.

Rose was taken aback by his tone; he had never raised his voice to her even on the rare occasions that they had fights. She didn't want to believe it but somehow she simply knew that the watch spoke the truth and her husband had a very important job to do. She would have to convince him to open this watch himself and see what he had to be and do for the sake of the universe. A war was going on in her head: Keep her husband and watch the world be destroyed or give her husband to the universe and save it? Either way she would lose her husband or was this losing him? Was her husband gaining forgotten memories really losing him? But, he's going to change, what does that mean? Will he still love me the same? These thoughts danced around in her head in a never ending loop until the reminder that the universe was at stake came to the surface! She couldn't be selfish even though she really wanted to be and keep John all for herself.

Rose wondered that if she truly loved him would that mean having to learn to love his Time Lord side too? Was it a test of their love? Would he even love her after he remembered being this glorious Doctor that the fob had given her a peek of? A tear rolled down her eye as she raised her hand and pointed to the blue box in the corner of the room that until now had gone unnoticed. She knew that would convince him.

"There, that's what you need to see. The blue box…it's called a…" Rose was interrupted.  
"TARDIS" finished John.

**Author's Note:** update. Hi guys I removed literally one sentence from this original chapter because it was preventing me from taking the story in the direction that I wanted to go. So it's not a big change, so hope you don't mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
The Doctor and John  
by The Plot Thinens

John stared in disbelief at the object that had seemed to have jump right out of his dreams. A part of him wanted to continue to believe that this was a prank and that Rose had used his dream journal he had shown her to aid in said prank, but he knew that could never be the case. He touched the blue box with shaking fingers and then removed them as if the box were red hot. Understanding now what this all meant for John Smith, college professor, he swung over to Rose and clasp her hand that was holding the fob watch. The close contact to the watch confirmed his suspicions. He held Rose tighter and stole a kiss from her lips. John was afraid and every part of him was trembling with that fear. Rose could feel his fear in his hand and in his kiss and in empathy her eyes began to tear up for him.

"If I change Rose, we can't have the same future together!" he huffed into her ear hardly able to breathe.

"But if you don't change, we'll have no chance at a future together at all" Sniffled Rose. Sounds of odd bombing in the distance and tremors shook the ground. Jack poked his head out the window of his 'office' and he hissed

"They're attacking the campus! They 're done clowning around Doc, there is no time left!"  
John closed his eyes and concentrated on the watch in their laced hand. Taking in a breath and absorbing any residual information that simply touching the dreaded object could give. John's eyes snapped open and he stared at Rose, she saw a deep sadness almost a form of pity in his eyes for Rose.

"Oh my Rose, my fantastic Rose… I don't know…I don't know if he will love you the way I do. He's so hurt, scarred and damaged. I don't even know if he can love like I do. He's like fire and ice…A storm, and he's…" John said before he was interrupted by Rose

"He's wonderful, because he is you, John. You're the same you just forgot a bit of yourself." Rose prayed that this was correct. Rose feared that John might have caught a bit of her doubts. Clamping her hands tighter he looked Rose straight in the eye and with an intensity rarely seen in this world he declared,

"Rose, I will change, I won't be the same. Never again, but I don't care what I have to do inside that head of his, if that's where I go when I open that watch. If it is in my power I will make him love you! I am him, John is this Doctor fellow or at least some part of him! And if that's the case he will love you, part of him will love you. Because a part of him is… me. Don't forget that I love you so he does too. Even if he denies it up and down! Don't let him make you leave and please don't give up on me. It might be hard but I know we can make it through anything". Rose nodded soberly and drew him into a final kiss. With his arms wrapped tightly around her and her body pressed up to his he whispered

"I love you, Rose Tyler Smith" and he opened the catch of the watch. Rose and John were bathed in a golden light that circled the two lovers and seemed to pull and push right through the both of them before settling its focus on transforming John Smith into The Doctor. And then he was the Doctor, all the Doctor. All of his Time Lordy self. The memories and events that he had experienced as John Smith were still in his head but the Doctor was front burner while John was a whisper in the back of his rather large mind, but John was clearly there. The Doctor didn't know what to do with or how to process the information in his newly put back together mind, so he did what he always did, stored it for later and went back to the basics, running.

Not physical running, at least not yet, but mentally he was running away from the situation as fast as he could and went back to his comfort zone of indifferent ancient alien time traveler. He pulled away from Rose, not rudely but enough to establish to her that his personal space was needed and Rose wordlessly complied.

"John… err I mean Doctor, are you alright..?" asked Rose hesitantly, but she never got to finish this sentence as the Doctor jumped into his mad and manic persona and began a rapid fire argument with his companion, Captain Jack Harkness.

"You were supposed to be watchin' after me, Jack! How could you let me up and marry a 20 year old human? It was bad enough with people thinking that there was just over a 20 year difference as opposed to almost 900!" Bellowed the Doctor. Rose found herself in a very interesting situation. She was a bit shocked to be referred to in such a way by a man who looked like her husband. Who very well might actually still be her husband! This thought went through her head as her eyes darted from her wedding band to the one on The Doctor's hand that seemed to go unnoticed by its wearer. Unable to voice her emotions in words she mutely continued to watch the drama between these two men who were obviously more familiar to each other then John and Jack the janitor ever were. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and barked back,

"Doc, what can I say? I've traveled with you since the Blitz and that is more than enough time for takers with me. I'm obviously not doing it for you. You're the one who showed up on campus after a long weekend with a ring on your finger. How was I to know that all but eloping was in your nature? Not like you told me or invited me to your wedding! At least I kept you from eating pears! After all was said and done I just figured you could use a good woman to stop you from walking around like you got a fork up your..."  
"But there are difference between humans and Time Lords!" sneered the Doctor. Jack made a not too shy glance down south of the Doctor. Then looking backup replied,

"Really? Now that's interesting, you gotta show me sometime. But that shouldn't be a problem. I mean after all, I found a creative way to be intimate with the dominate species of the planet we visited in the…"

"Okay that's enough! I meant aging, you idiot!" yelled the Doctor. Jack quickly retorted,

"Oh is that all, hey, lucky you Rose. Not too much to get used to then. Well, physically anyway." The two men's argument now shifted in Rose's direction, but the Doctor continued to lock eyes with Jack and declared,

"I'm going to stay the way I am now indefinitely, while I'll have to watch Rose age and die! She's my wife now and that complicates matters!" The Doctor pointed to Rose and Jack fed up with the whole situation without thinking snarked  
"Well when are things not complicated for you, Doctor? It could be worse! If anything eventually she'll look like the cougar and you the pretty young thing." Rose had now had it with these two morons talking about her as if she wasn't even in the room and shouted,

"Excuse me, but I'm not invisible here? Doesn't anyone care what I'm thinking right now, yeah?" Jack remembered himself and cringed at his choice of words. He had not gotten too close to Rose as John had fears of him snatching her up with his Jack charm, but he knew Rose was a sweet and kind young woman who clearly didn't deserve the way she was being treated by the two men in this room.  
"Hey I'm sorry Rose, what do you think?" he asked Rose before the ground shook from blasting alien missiles yet again.

"I think someone has got to sort out those aliens!" Declared Rose remembering the events that got them in this situation in the first place. The Doctor stood up tall and straight and rubbed his hands together in almost a giddy fashion,  
"Alright you two stay here. I'm gonna sort out this rude lot and then we'll sort out the rest. Sound good, no complaints?" announced the Doctor but not stopping for an answer. He swung around and headed for the TARDIS. Rose put up her hand and raised her voice,  
"Wait, are you going to be okay?" asked Rose a bit apprehensive but concerned.  
"Me? Oh Don't you worry Rose Tyler, I'll be fine… Well, be back in a mo!" he beamed with the biggest smile though not for anyone in particular and a bit forced.

"Be careful." Whispered Rose and The Doctor was off like a shot into the TARDIS. Its doors closed and the blue box much to Rose's disbelief disappeared from the little room.


	3. Chapter 3

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens  
**Author's notes:**  
This is my first fanfic, please tell me how I'm doing. I think I would be encouraged to write more if I get some feedback. This chapter is a bit sorry.  
Chapter 3  
The Wrath of a Time Lord

"I gave you every opportunity to leave me alone and now you have left me no choice." Stated the Doctor slow and cool but with a forceful tone that breathed power. The first thing he had done once he had manned the TARDIS for the first time in over a year was change back into his own Doctor-ish clothing of leather and jeans. He then created a device that would lock the Family of Blood in their current shells eliminating their trump card of body snatching. Now that they no longer had the power to absorb a victim at will they were beginning to find the Doctor a more fearsome being as he strolled among the Family. He had the presence of a God surveying aunts beneath his feet. He would be their Judge, jury and executioner. And why should he not be? The second thing he had done was adjust his sonic screwdriver to make their weapons red hot and they had dropped them to nurse their burnt stolen hands. Now trapped in weak human bodies with no means to defend themselves these predators might be glimpsing a hint of what every one of their victims had felt before they were absorbed painfully and without mercy. But he would give them more pain and he had no mercy, not since before the Time war. He could still be diplomatic but that time and chance had long passed and he would make them regret their actions a hundred times over. His icy blue eyes dug into their gaseous souls and they were shaking in their stolen bones.

"You wanted to live forever didja? Well I can help you with that." The Doctor said, his voice as cold as ice. And with that he inflicted punishments to the four befitting their crimes. He would grant them the immortality they sought but with a cruel price. Separated and forever miserable he insured that their long lives would be without any comfort. The Doctor reflected on the lives they had disrupted and the people they had hurt through their selfish desires to live a little longer. Having now worked his way through the other three, The Doctor secured Brother of Blood inside the lake side statue of university's founder, aided by some jiggery pokery of the Sonic Screwdriver. Now for as long as this statue stood Brother would stand guard watching over the university's sacred grounds he had once threatened.

And as the Doctor finished his work his mind finally caught up with him and his thoughts went back to Rose, who was now technically his wife. He regretted what he had put her through. Rose didn't deserve any of this. She was a fantastic person who deserved fantastic things to happen to her along with a fantastic man. The Doctor felt many things about his superior biology and intelligence but after the time war and having seen its horrors he was not feeling like a fantastic guy. What would he even do with a human wife? A wife did not fit in with the basic companion. Was it even going to be a problem? Would she really still want to try to be with him? He wasn't really John anymore; John was surface memories he could access at will. At best he was like a little conscious nipping at the back of his head. The Doctor did not know why all this should concern him so much. He had been married many times during past regenerations, often by accident, and then just went on his merry way afterwards. Couldn't he just do the same to Rose? The thought seemed so cruel but after all if one would logic it out, if one married in the past that wife was already dead in the future. By that logic it was not like marriage was ever a real binding attachment to a time travelling alien. Often enough he just wanted to get away, from said usually forced marriage, before he found himself imprisoned for whatever reason. But this was sort of different. Both Rose and John had been willing committed participants and although he was missing memories at the time, John was still the Doctor at the time he had married. Well, maybe because it was under an assumed name it vetoed the marriage.

The Doctor's pondering was interrupted when he became aware of the cold metal on his right ring finger and stared at it. This was placed on his hand by a woman who thought she was marrying a different man not him, she was in love with the ghost of another man not him. To him that man was dead and he should act accordingly. The Doctor grasped the simple gold band between his thumb and index finger and slipped it off his ring finger. He regarded the shiny object and fisted the ring in his left hand.

"Time to bury the dead again." He said as he pulled his hand back to throw the ring in the lake as far as he could. But something happened as the Doctor was about to let go. In his very big time lord mind an image of Rose and her smile flashed before his eyes. Followed by the image of her lovely young face as they exchanged the rings in the same church her parents had been married. The Doctor stopped his throw and once again looked at the ring. Feeling a little beside himself he looked around even though he knew no one was around but the statue Brother of Blood. And who was he going to tell? The Doctor pocketed the ring in his side chest pocket, straightened his coat and then walked back to the TARDIS.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's notes: Sorry before about things moving too fast for ya. Hopefully I can slow things down a bit while they are speeding up…paradox. Please give me all the feedback you want! It is the only way I will learn to be a better writer.

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens  
Chapter 4

Distractions are lovely

Jack and Rose were bunkered up in Jack the former janitor's office. It was not in Jack's nature to sit idly by while a fight was going on. But experience had taught him to know when the Doctor had to do something for himself. The best thing for him to do was to guard the Doctor's 'bride' from harm until his Time Lordyness returned for them. Rose had so many questions to ask about The Doctor and where to go from here with life. If she had the humor to do so, she probably would have thought that this current situation trumped any wedding night confessions she could think of. Rose got a hold of her thoughts and remembered that if one looked too far ahead they would trip over their feet. For now she would settled for learning about what was in front of her. She asked Jack questions in regard to how he was actually acquainted with the Doctor, where he was from, or in his case when, and what it was he did for the Doctor as his companion. Companion, it just seemed so vague a job title. Jack was doing his best to answer her questions but only got as far as his own back story. The rest was just tangents about situations where he ended up naked. Jack being ever the excellent storyteller was happy that he could actually keep Rose laughing.

"Jack, you are a really amusing guy. I'd love to share a pint with you under different circumstances, but I really want to know about what a companion is." Stated Rose as she straightened her skirt absentmindedly. Jack leaned back in his chair and pondered the question.  
"That is a good question, Rose Tyler. I've been the Doctor's companion for a while now but probably his janitor longer. A guy like the Doctor is amazing and he can do anything it seems, but what is doing anything if you don't have an audience. I'm convinced that he took me on for a few reasons. One, it's me. Captain Jack Harkness. How could you turn this down, hmm?" said Jack waggling his eyebrows. He then continued

"He is fond of showing off, so I might be someone to stand and watch him be impressive and tell him so. But all joking aside, I think he took me on as a companion because he was lonely and needed a friend. Even time lords with all of their bragging can, I am convinced get lonely." Declared Jack. Rose deliberated on this and thought it sad. She didn't know why he was lonely surely there were other aliens like him. Why would he need to keep humans around? Maybe Jack was really a pet but just didn't see it. Either way she didn't like the idea of the Doctor being lonely. Rose was torn from her thoughts when the two humans heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing outside the window.  
"He's back!" the two said in unison and raced to greet him.

When the two had finally made it to the front of the TARDIS they found that it was locked.  
"Guess his royal Time Lordyness expects us to come to him." Said Jack as he rolled his eyes exasperated. Jack produced a Yale lock key from his pocket and opened the door to the TARDIS. With a flourish he swung around and said  
"Welcome to the TARDIS, Rose!" and ran inside.

Rose ran in after him and was taken off guard, she was not expecting to be greeted with such a huge space and needed a moment to get her footing in the new environment. She saw Jack and the Doctor at the center of the Room at what appeared to be some form of alien console that seem to look part machine and part organic. But that didn't matter. She had to confirm what her senses were telling her and she ran back outside the doors. She then walked around the outside of the TARDIS twice and realized after poking her head back inside that it was indeed,

"Bigger on the inside!" Rose announced to herself. At this point the Doctor had turned his attentions to the confused human as she slowly walked back inside the space that was alien to her in more ways than one. The Doctor stood tall and observed the pink and yellow human before him. Jack leaning back into the jump seat was looking on nervously from the sidelines. Jack was very eager to see how this would play out. He hoped that for both his friend and new friend's sakes that this played out for the best.

"You're Alien," stated Rose for the second time tonight. Before it had been easy to believe anything when caught up in that dramatic moment earlier, but now she needed to ground herself and clarify her new situation. She needed reassurance that she wasn't cracking up,  
"Yes… Is that a problem?" Asked the Doctor in earnest.

"No." Rose stated immediately. As long as they were not attacking her, she honestly did not care what anyone was. She just wanted to finally have her talk with this Doctor man and get her answers.

"Well, then glad that's settle. I'm the Doctor by the way. Pleasure ta meet you." Smiled the Doctor and extended his hand in the most congenial way he knew how. Rose took his hand mechanically if not instinctually and shook it.

"Rose Tyler Smi…" she caught herself this whole situation was so surreal and uncomfortable. As they shook hands Rose could not help but notice that the Doctor was not wearing the wedding band that had been on his hand when he was John. Rose's heart ached at this discovery but she kept a brave face on, refusing to jump to conclusions. She really wanted to just sit down and talk rather than leaving everything up in the air like this. She was going to suggest that they have a sit down but her intentions were interrupted by the Doctor's voice having now just finished their handshake.

"Very good, Rose Tyler, Bout time we were formally introduced" stated the Doctor. The Doctor then hopped to the console and proceeded to look busy. He felt terrible for running away from Rose's questions. He knew what she wanted to ask, but running away was what the Doctor did. It had worked for him so far, why mess with the plan now? He just hoped that somehow he could hold off the questions just a bit longer. As if by the grace of time itself the Doctor started getting a reading from an odd signal in London.  
"Hmm, that shouldn't be there." The Doctor mused. He then punched a few coordinates into the TARDIS and began his dance around the console readying it for flight.

"Sorry Jack and Rose, but we will have to recap the year and half later. We have an alien signal to deal with!" Declared the Doctor still busy with the coordinates. Jack leaped up from the jump seat only to be thrown back down as the TARDIS lurched this way and that. Rose having had no warning was holding on to the nearest coral strut as if her life depended on it.  
"But Doc, what about Rose?" bellowed Jack as he hugged the base of the jump seat. The Doctor not even looking up from the console, waved his hand and stated,

"Oh bring her along, the more the merrier. We're not going far anyway. We're staying in this time and just moving to London. Rose is from this century she might even be useful helping us." Rose looked incredulously at the Doctor for hinting that there was only a possibility that she might be useful to him. She would have smacked his arm if both her arms weren't already engaged in holding on for dear life.

"We're losing the signal a bit, only can get a partial lock, don't know where in London we'll be landing kids, hold on tight!" shouted the Doctor.

The TARDIS shook a bit more and then finally came to a stop. Rose sensing that they had landed, or whatever this spaceship did, let go of the strut and walked over to the TARDIS doors. She apprehensively went to push the door open but looked back to Jack and the Doctor.

"Go ahead Rose," smiled Jack. Rose opened the door and walked outside. Amazing! She had walked into the box on campus and was now in London and across the Thames was the London Eye! It was like magic! She was removed from her revelry when the Doctor and Jack emerged from the TARDIS with business faces on.

"Am I going to assume that this alien signal is not the friendly kind?" Questioned Rose.

"You ask good questions, Rose Tyler. And you're right, usually an out of place alien signal on Earth is not a good sign, s'pose."  
"Speaking of good questions and aliens, if you are an alien, then how come you sound like you're from the North?" Asked Rose who was part being serious and part in jest. The Doctor crossed his arms looking insulted and declared,

"Lots of planets have a North!" Jack took this opportunity to inject himself into the conversation.

"I hate to interrupt the newlyweds, but we do have a possible alien threat to investigate! Since we were only able to get a partial signal, I think we should split up" declared Jack. Before the Doctor could protest or push Rose on to team Jack, Jack was already off like a shot with two goals. Find said alien threat and give the Doctor and his bride some alone time.

"I mean hunting aliens together, what could be more romantic?" Jack mused to himself as he ran up the side of the river.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: If you read an earlier version of this sorry. Last time I'm going to proof read half awake. Fixed some typos.  
Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens

Chapter 5- Look out! Rose n Doctor's about!

"Doctah! wait up, yeah? I can't keep up with you in these shoes! It's a wonder my heels didn't fall through the grates on the floor of that Spaceship of yours." Rose yelled down the street to the back of the Doctor's cropped hair head.  
"TARDIS and hold on a tick." Retorted the Doctor. The Doctor turned around, then strolled up to Rose and gave her an appraising glance. Her light pink cocktail dress and stiletto heels were such lovely things but were probably not the best apparel for the work out he had in mind for alien hunting.  
"Earth woman fashion… Bloody rubbish when it comes to practicality." Grumbled the Doctor as he got down on one knee in front of Rose.  
"Well please excuse the poor Earth woman. You're the one who said I looked sexy in it earlier when…!" Rose stopped talking mid sentence for two reasons. One, she realized that she was referring to the Doctor as she would to John, which for the moment seemed awkward or uncomfortable. And two, the Doctor getting down on one knee in front of her like he was now, reminded her of John's proposal.

The Doctor pulled a strange metal stick out from his coat pocket and tinkered with it a bit. He then lifted Rose's left foot gingerly off of the ground making sure to give her time to compensate and shift her weight. Rose was, after all, assisting him with his investigation and an injured human was even less use to him. He aimed the end of the metal device, a 'sonic screwdriver' he told her, at Rose's heel. She couldn't help but shiver just a little from his touch. She watched with amazement as the Sonic Screwdriver with a gentle hum seemed to restructure her shoe into something a bit more like a running shoe. It didn't even pinch her feet anymore as high heel shoes tended to.  
"Not a genuine trainer but it will do in a pinch. Now shift, I need to get the other one." Said the Doctor. Rose complied to the Doctor's wishes and produced the other shoed foot.

"Just made em a bit more cushioned and formed for your slightly higher arches. And you don't even have to worry about the size a bit bigger on the inside for ya too." Smirked the Doctor in a know-it-all voice.

Rose couldn't help but be impressed but they had been the most expensive pair of shoes she owned.  
"I know what you're thinkin'. I'll replace the bloody shoes later if you want. Now, new trainers, no excuses not to keep up! Let's go, it's this way!" Said the Doctor almost too fast for Rose to catch.

The Doctor began running off down a side alley all the while fiddling with the Sonic. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks and made a full reverse.  
"I mean this way." Said the Doctor a bit sheepishly but still trying to keep his superior air about him as he followed his Sonic Screwdriver's directions. Rose rolled her eyes, she was now ahead of the Doctor with his turn of directions and was easily running in stride with him.

The Doctor and Rose had run about two blocks down and over from where they had landed in the TARDIS when the Doctor finally stopped abruptly near the security entrance of a shopping center that look as if it was about to close for the night. Rose had been caught off guard and bumped into the Time Lord. Not wanting to fall backward she grabbed for the back of the Doctor's jacket throwing him off balance. The Doctor managed to right himself by twirling around on his heels and pulling Rose upright by her hands.

"Got no time for dancing right now, Rose." Said the Doctor a bit annoyed.  
"Sorry, but next time a warning would be nice." Replied Rose just as annoyed. Both their eyes then trailed down to their joined hands. Rose could have sworn that she saw the Doctor's ears pink a bit before he dropped her hands and turned around.  
"Your 'ands are so much colder now." Stated Rose about the temperature of the Doctor's hands, but she could have just as easily been referring to the Doctor's treatment of her. The Doctor started walking to the half closed entrance to the staff only part of the store, but said over his shoulder,  
"Yeah Well, Time Lord again. Different species. Different body temperature, alien thing, you understand. Well maybe ya don't exactly but enough."

Rose was coming up to the Doctor's side when she realized that he had already drummed up a conversation with the security staffer locking the doors for the night.  
"…from the security company. Here to inspect the equipment. Got some nice new upgrades for ya" Said the Doctor. Producing a dog eared looking wallet, he then flashed it in front of the guard. Rose didn't see what was on it but from the guards reaction it seem official enough. An impressive feat Rose thought since none of them were exactly dressed like they were supposed to be in the store after hours.  
"Well everything seems in order here. I'll just be finishing me job locking these doors and you can finish yours. Did the company give you a key?" asked the security staffer. The Doctor smiled and replied

"Oh I got all the keys I need right here." He then patted his pocket that held the sonic screwdriver. The guard smiled and waved behind the locked doors as he walked off to his car. The Doctor returned his wave in kind, but the second the man was out of sight his face went dead pan and his eyes the iciest they could be. He then walked off towards the direction that the guard had reminded them was the security room. Rose did her best to keep up with the Time Lord who moved with speed and a mind focused on nothing but the task at hand. The Doctor then announced in a no nonsense voice,  
"The signals getting mixed up. It's like it's almost all over the place. Like it's out reaching, it's high… Anyway something here is transmitting and we got to find it. Best bet is to see what cctv in this building has got to say but in the meantime… Keep an eye out for something out of the ordinary"  
"You mean besides you?" replied Rose with a bit of sarcasm.

It didn't take them long to locate the security camera room in the basement. It was an impressive set up and had a least 5 cameras for every floor of the shopping center. The Doctor looked over the screens but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were just dark rooms with shelves of clothing and shop window dummies. Frustrated that it was going to be a bit more of a challenge, the Doctor assumed that whatever it was they were looking for was either very small or cloaking itself somehow. Having reasoned this, the Doctor began to pull out parts of the expensive looking security system.

"Doctah, what are ya doin? You're going to get us in trouble." Declared Rose.

"We're looking for possible alien hostiles that might want to cause harm to this planet and/ or its inhabitants and you're worried about getting in trouble with mall security over a few spare parts? Priorities, Rose." The doctor said as he rolled his eyes at the human. He then went back to work and without looking at her said

"Besides I said we were giving it an upgrade, I can have it working twice as good with half these parts later if I wanted…" he trailed off and was now fully engrossed in his task of creating a device to pinpoint the signal's location in the building. However in his haste to be hasty in getting into this mystery the Doctor had failed to teach Rose the canon companion rule number one. The most sacred but often ignored, 'Don't wander off.' And seeing that she was probably not going to be any use to the Doctor for a while, that is just what Rose Tyler was doing, wandering off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Complicated**  
by The Plot Thinens  
Chapter 6 - **Life in Plastic**

Rose meandered around the basement storage room looking for anything out of the ordinary as the Doctor had put it. All the while trying to decide if it was at all reasonable to classify her situation with her husband, or whatever he was now, as their first big fight. It was like marrying someone and finding out that they were hiding a multiple personality disorder. Frustrated she threw her arms up and groaned to the ceiling.

"What am I going to do with him?" she was practically shouting. Suddenly Rose heard the sound of something rustling behind her. She swung her head around thinking it was the Doctor but saw nothing. A little unnerved she reasoned that something just fell over. She told herself to get a grip and stop being childish. She was the only living thing in this creepy room full of boxes, shop dummies, and disused furniture. She walked a bit further and was sure this time she had heard something.  
"Ello? Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?" She demanded, the worry evident in her voice. That's when she noticed that one of the dummies was moving! A male looking dummy in front of her had turned its head and was now moving toward her.  
"Yeah, you got me. Very funny." Said Rose to the dummy in a very clipped voice.

It was then that she noticed that a second dummy was coming up behind her then a third and a fourth. Rose was realizing now that she was becoming quickly surrounded. And it was at that moment she knew that this was definitely out of the ordinary. Rose backed down a corner of the storage room that seemed clear, hoping to find a way out. It had to be a prank but every instinct in her body was telling her to stay away from this threat and she was going to listen. She continued to back away from the dummies in front of her until she noticed that they had her up against a wall. The dummies were closing in now, their silent blank faces as frightening as any slobbering beast she could think of. The dummies raised their arms as if to strike her down and rose turned her head and shut her eyes tight. She didn't want to see it coming. Rose all of a sudden felt a cool hand grab hers and she open her eyes and turned to the suspected owner. To her great relief cool blue eyes that promised protection looked back at her.

"Run." Declared the Doctor as he dragged her out the nearby door he had just soniced open. The plastic people's killing blow had just missed her by seconds. Rose looked back just in time to see the damage that they had done to the wall where she had been standing. The Doctor had saved her life.

The two raced down the hallway with an army of plastic store dummies at their heels. The Doctor pulled Rose into the waiting service lift and they watched as the doors slowly closed. Unfortunately, the doors did not shut fast enough and one of the plastic dummies managed to put its arm through. Knowing that the lift could not ascend without being completely closed, the Doctor began to tug at the dummy's arm until he had pulled it clean off the plastic monster. With the way cleared, the doors closed the rest of the way and the two moved up the shaft.  
"You pulled his arm off." Stated Rose in disbelief.  
"Yep. Plastic. First rule, though thought it should have been obvious, Don't wander off! My fault on that one, though. I forgot to tell you." Replied the Doctor as he tossed the arm to Rose, who caught it, though reluctantly. The lift doors opened again and the Doctor disabled the lifts controls so it could not be called back to the basement level. He then shuffled Rose toward an emergency exit.  
"But it's gotta be like a trick, yeah? Plastic doesn't move by itself." Reasoned Rose not quite ready to believe what was right in front of her.  
"It's not a trick. Remember the out of the ordinary? That was it. They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. Autons. I've just discovered they're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." Smiled the Doctor in grim satisfaction as he produced what looked like a small explosive device.

"Did I marry a nutter? You keep explosives in your pockets?" Asked Rose in disbelief.  
"Oh, just small ones. So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. Your mum's not too far from here, if I do recall. Go pay her a visit. Oh, don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." The Doctor quickly said, while she pushed Rose out the exit. And before Rose could say anything he had already shut the door on her. The door opened again and the Doctor poked his head out.  
"Oh just in case, it was nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!" He announced and shut the door again. Rose was in a daze still clasping at the plastic arm the Doctor had handed her. Finally she got her wits about her. She tried at the door and it was locked from the inside. She wanted to get to the Doctor, she didn't want to leave him to face this alone. Rose's struggle at the door she was fast realizing was in vain and then the idea of the Doctor's explosives came to mind. Instinct again took over and she realized that she had no other choice but to heed the Doctor's words and RUN! Rose managed to clear the building and ran across the street almost getting hit by a taxi cab in the process. She then saw the building that she had been in seconds ago and that the Doctor, her husband, was still inside, explode and burst into flames. If Rose had not been in shock before after tonight she was now. It was too much to take, the aliens, the attacks, spaceships, possibly losing her husband twice in one night. Her brain shut down to its basic functions and she slowly made the walk towards the familiar path to her mother's flat at the Powell Estate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Complicated**  
by The Plot Thinens  
Chapter 7 - **Domestics**

Rose woke up at 7:30am in her old bed, in her old room, in her old flat that she had shared with her mother since she was a baby. In her semi-conscious state she may have thought for a moment that she was back in the house she had shared with John for that past two and a half months. She reached her hand out to stroke her husband's back to wake him for work, as was the custom she had developed since they started sharing a bed. Feeling nothing but air she groggily called to him,

"John…". Rose then snapped fully awake having remembered the previous night's adventure. She hopped out of bed and threw on some old somewhat ratty clothing she had left behind when she moved to John's house. Having made herself decent she dashed into the living room to find her mother on the couch watching tele. Her mother didn't seem to notice that she had entered the room and said to herself,

"'Whole world's going to pot these days. They better catch these guys soon. Two in one day, coppers are lying down on the bloody job!"  
Rose's eyes turned to the TV only to see that the store the Doctor had blown up was still ablaze. Overwhelmed with emotions she dropped to the floor feeling faint and cried. Jackie finally noticing Rose quickly ran to her daughter's side and hugged her. She had been upset enough by the state Rose had arrived in on the previous night.

"Lovey, I saw the news about the Uni bombing attack last night? I didn't wantta push you the night before, but you come home late at night with just the clothes on your back and a dummy arm. You go back to your old room hardly saying two words and go right to sleep and now you're crying buckets! I'm a little confused. Did something happen to John? Was he hurt?" Questioned Jackie. Rose mechanically answered through tears,  
"No, no… we weren't in a bombing on campus…"

"Then what is it? Are you just upset 'bout the bombing?" Jackie looked deeper into her daughter's tear soaked eyes, she didn't think the bombing on campus had anything to do with what was bothering Rose.

"Did something happen with John, then? Did he do something to you? Oh, that prat! What did he do?" she demanded. Just the mention of John was making Rose tear up more. Her mother had the wrong idea as usual, but Rose just didn't have the energy for a full on Tyler woman heated conversation over wrong ideas. What she badly wanted to do was to recap the last 24 hours. Rose wanted to tell her mother everything but she was afraid of the Doctor's warning not to tell anyone. The blond was also afraid that even if she did say anything that they'd lock her up in a padded room and swallow the key. Realizing that her mother would only probe deeper if she continued to cry, Rose dried her tears and attempted to pull herself together. Rose looked around and tried to take stock of anything that could change the subject.  
"No… Uh, mum what happened to that arm I brought with me?" asked Rose. Jackie looked a little upset that her daughter was dodging the subject but answered her question,

"Oh did you want that old thing? You were in shock last night. I figured it was just something you picked up in a daze. I chucked it in a bin out in the courtyard when I went to buy milk this morning. It's probably still there if you wanna fish it out." Rose shook her head.

"No I don't need it. I was just curious." Rose answered as she got up and turned off the television. Jackie wanted more information out of her daughter about her husband, but Jackie decided that it was better to get it out over time. If her state was a result of something John had done, Rose was away from him for now and she could protect her baby. She was just thankful that her daughter had the good sense to come to her when she was in trouble, just like she finally did with Jimmy Stone.

By noon, Rose was master of herself again but she still was worried for the Doctor. She wanted to go out and find him. If there was anything left to find. The blond cringed and pushed that dark thought down. For now she was her mother's prisoner and had to act accordingly. She sat there on the sofa with her cup of tea. She had been drinking a lot of tea so far today but no food. Her stomach was too much in knots for that. She was as calm as anyone could be expected to be in such a situation, but her thoughts kept drifting back to John, the Doctor, whoever he was he had saved her life. And he didn't have to come save her. That was for sure. She was about to be slain by heartless monsters and he came in like a knight on a white horse and snatched her from the mouth of death. Rose would be kidding herself if the daring rescue last night hadn't swept her off her feet just a little. There had been a bit of stirring in her stomach in that adrenaline filled moment when she had seen his face again. And while they were running down that hallway hand in hand. She might actually be developing a, for lack of a more appropriate word for a married woman, crush on the Doctor. And maybe it was a crush that could develop into something more with a little time. How strange to be in love and crushing on the same man like they were two people. Well physically he was one person, mentally she could only guess. Why did it feel like she was cheating on her husband with her husband? Rose let out an exasperated sigh and fell back deeper into the sofa. Until she knew for a fact that he was safe, all of these crazy thoughts were pointless anyway. She needed to search for him and soon or she would go out of her mind.

Looking into her mug she noticed that it was in need of refilling. Grumbling she got up. Rose was walking to the kitchen when suddenly she heard something rattling at the door. It could be only one thing and she rolled her eyes in frustration and tilted her head toward her mother's direction.

"Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays." Chided Rose in an annoyed tone to her mother who was sitting in her room. Jackie was finally getting ready for the day and waved her hair brush at her daughter through the door.

"I did it weeks back!" defended Jackie.  
"No, you thought about it." Retorted Rose. On a closer inspection Rose noticed that screws were on the floor and most likely ones that had been used to seal off the cat flap. The Blond went to the cat flap which she just managed to catch moving. Curiously Rose got on all fours for a closer look. Very carefully so as not to expose too much of her fingers to the other side of the door she flipped open the flap. To her astonishment the Doctor was trying to look through on the other side. Without thinking and with unbelievable speed, Rose flung open the door and threw herself into the Doctor's arms.

"Oh, John!" she cried holding him so tight, she then looked into his eyes, they didn't look at her the same way that they used to but she didn't care, her man had come back to her! He was here in her arms in one glorious piece. Running on the adrenaline that came with the seeing of a mate thought lost, she grabbed him by his head and pulled him into a deep breathtaking snog. She pressed herself flush against him and moaned into his mouth.

At first the Doctor was stunned but after a few moments of the attentions Rose was giving him, how could he not respond back? Any male would be 'John' for a kiss like that and a little part of him secretly wanted to be that for her. The Doctor gave in and began to kiss her back, pulling his wife to him just as tightly as Rose was clinging to his leather clad form. If Rose had had it her way she probably would have taken him on the floor of that hallway, regardless of witnesses, but they were interrupted by the sound of Jackie Tyler's voice harrumphing and Rose groaned in deep crippling frustration.

"Well glad to see you've kissed and made up, but John, you git! What did you do? My Rosie comes home in the middle of the night, white as a sheet, looking like she's seen a ghost! I was going against my better judgment steppin' aside for you two and if you have laid one mean hand on her! Or hurt her in any way! I'll…"

"Mum, John didn't do anything, we're fine, I swear, if John was treating me even a fraction of how Jimmy Stone did, I wouldn't stick around to take it. I learned my lesson." Rose declared, making a show of holding onto the Doctor's arm.

Satisfied for now with Rose's answer she indicated that she was going to be stepping out for a while, though not without giving the Doctor a frightening, icy cold, glare first. The Doctor shivered slightly and was reminded of this planet's mother bears. The Doctor had been partially grateful for the interruption earlier as he felt that for a minute he was losing control of himself with Rose. When your life was misery it was too easy to give into temptation and slip into anything that would prove a distraction from reality. The Doctor straightened his collar and joined Rose in watching Jackie leave. The Doctor recalled from John's memories that the first time he had been brought to the Powell Estate, Rose's mother had tried to proposition him, not understanding his relationship with Rose at the time. As a result, John had still been a little uncomfortable around Jackie. So it was no sad thing for the Doctor when he watched her walk away down the hall to do whatever errands she had. Closing the door the doctor set to work looking around the apartment for why he had come in the first place. Sadly, his original intent was not to find Rose and check on her, he reasoned that where ever she was, she was probably fine. His motive for coming was to hunt down what was hunting him. Though probably best not to tell Rose that. To be honest he remembered that Rose's mother lived in the building but not which apartment. John's memories were a bit fuzzy on that. The Doctor could only guess that John relied more on Rose to lead him around with issues involving her cougar of a mother.

The Doctor was actually more concern or rather annoyed with where Jack had run off to. It was irritating having to do all this foot work by himself and Rose was too green to be much more than a damsel in distress at this point. Where was that amorous idiot? He had not heard from Jack since they parted company last night. He knew the man had a tendency for distractions but he wasn't this bad about checking in. The Doctor was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the cat door he had just been looking through down the tiny hall rattle.

"What's that, then? You have a cat?" asked the Doctor, wondering what sounded like it was now scurrying about the apartment.

"No." replied Rose who had walked into the kitchen to get a cup of tea for the two of them. Now that she had the Doctor alone in her mother's small apartment, she desperately wanted to have the talk about their relationship that was overdue. Rose was very nervous and actually grateful that the Doctor had begun with talking small talk, it would be a good segue into the real issue they had to discuss. She was so engrossed with the tea that she did not see the Auton arm jump off the floor and grab the Doctor by the throat. As it tried to strangle the life from him, the Doctor flared around the room, while Rose continued on nervously about cats unaware of the Doctor's plight.

"We did have a cat, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate." Rose breathed out and then said

"But enough about cats, Doctor. I really want to know where we stand as a couple. I mean I know that it's weird and you're alien now with more memories. But I don't want to give up on us yet. I mean maybe we can make it work. I'll understand if you want a little space between us. I'm not expecting you to have to go right back to where we were, but…"

As Rose continued to talk she came into the living room with the two mugs of tea, placing them on the coffee table next to the sofa where the Doctor was currently sitting. She hoped that he was ready to settle things between them. She then noticed that the Doctor appeared to be pretending to strangle himself with the same plastic arm that she had brought back to the flat with her last night.

"I thought Mum threw that in the bin. Ugh, give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your real name. Doctor who?" Asked Rose. When the Doctor did not answer and instead continued to look up at her and 'act' like he was being strangled, Rose lost her cool. She was trying to discuss their future as wife and husband. And he was acting like a 9 year old boys.

"Doctor this is a really serious conversation we have been avoiding and I don't think you are taking it seriously at all!" barked Rose. At that moment the Doctor managed to finally free himself of the strangling disembodied arm and threw it off him. To the shock of the two of them the arm stopped in midair and its hand grabbed onto Rose's face! Alarmed the Doctor began to pull at the arm trying to free the distressed Rose. All he managed to do was pull Rose down on top of him as they fell onto the coffee table next to them. The flimsy thing broke under the couple's weight and broke into a dozen pieces. Rolling around on the floor the Doctor managed to get on top of Rose and jabbed the palm of the menacing hand with the Sonic Screwdriver. The thing let go of Rose's face and with another flash of the Sonic device the hand went limp, freezing once more into harmless plastic. Breathing heavily the two stared at each other as they sat on the floor in a very compromising position. The Doctor then got off of Rose and tossed her the arm.

"It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless." Smiled the Doctor.

"Do you think?" replied Rose, she then hit the Doctor with the arm.

"Ow!" complaint the Doctor, he then thought to add in a comment about spouse abuse, but stopped himself. Domestics were dangerous and so was any hint to matrimony with this pink and yellow human. That was the second time that he had to save her life in under 24 hours and this situation was obviously too much for a new companion. It might seem rough or mean to Rose but he could not risk her safety by letting her tag along. This had to end now before it got too painful. The Doctor then got up and walked out the door of the flat. Rose sat there for a moment then remembered the situation and took after the Doctor following him down the staircase.

"Hold on a minute! You can't just go swanning off." Yelled Rose at the man who was her husband.

"Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you." Shouted the Doctor back as he continued down the stairs quickening his pace to lose Rose.

"But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me." Rose replied not ready to be left behind.

"Ten out of ten for observation." snarked the Doctor, really pounding down the steps now as Rose was hot on his trail.

"You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on." Rose demanded of the man who was supposed to be her partner.

"No I don't." Said the Doctor as he busted out of the stairwell doors.

"All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking." Threaten Rose, desperate to get him to stop moving and talk to her. This situation was dangerous enough without her being half cocked. Rose did not yet realize that the Doctor had no intention of taking her with him, but simply thought that he was being difficult.

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" asked the Doctor rolling his eyes.

"Sort of." Rose replied a bit unsure.

"Doesn't work." He clipped and continued to walk on looking in front of him. Rose grabbed onto his arm and pulled at it, but the Doctor did not stop and just dragged Rose behind him.

"I'm your wife, dammit! You're supposed to tell me everything! I've seen enough, you can tell me! How am I gonna help you if you leave me in the dark, yeah? I'm in this as much as you. I mean that plastic arm before, it came after me?" shouted Rose a bit desperate now. She was starting to feel that he wasn't just walking away from her physically. Frustrated with the human clinging to him he barked,

"After you? Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all. Look this morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you were with me."

"So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you? " Asked Rose with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Sort of." Stated the Doctor. Rose rolled her eyes and sarcastically declared,

"I married a narcissist too?"

"Sort of, yeah." Replied the Doctor now at the end of his patience in dealing with her. Rose wanted to know more about the situation, perhaps if she was more informed the Doctor would find her more useful and right now she was feeling too useless in the way of knowledge. The thought of being useless scared her and she piped up,

"Before you said that was living plastic! If we're going to go with the living plastic, still sounds unbelievable, how did you kill it?" The Doctor, even when frustrated, could never resist an opportunity to show off how superior his knowledge was, stated,

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead. Kind of like your radio controlled toys, but thought controlled by something that wants to start trouble for your lot and planet. Long Story though, ta." He pulled himself free but Rose reached for his arm again as he was trying to walk away. She then grabbed for his hand and looked him in the eye with a searching gaze.

"I sort of know what you are Doctor, but really though, who are you?" The Doctor looked down at Rose's hand and squeezed it, Rose couldn't help but smile at the soft pressure.

"Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home. It's too dangerous for you." The Doctor dropped Rose's hand and began to walk away yet again. Rose came up behind him and clung to his hand which the Doctor tried to force free.

"You're not going anywhere, you git! At least not without me! I made a promise to you!" shouted Rose in earnest.

"You made a promise to a dead man, a personality that was created as a disguise, Rose. This is me, not John!" Stated the Doctor. He had hoped it wouldn't have had to come to this. But he had to be cruel to be kind to this one. He couldn't have a wife, it was too dangerous. Monsters had come after her and they didn't even know she was his wife. Rose not willing to take this lying down roared back,

"You're not dead! I know you are the Doctor but the Doctor is also John. I love you because I love John, and I love John because I love you, don't you see that. I want all of you! If I'm only willing to love one part of you and not the rest, even if I don't understand it all yet, then it's not love! Or are Time Lords too Mister Spock to understand human emotions?"

"I'm sorry, Rose." Said the Doctor looking at her with such pity in his icy-blue eyes. He freed himself from Rose's grasp and turned the corner where, unknown to Rose, the TARDIS waited. Rose was rendered speechless and just stared at him as he rounded the corner. She wanted to chase after him but within seconds of him disappearing from her sight she heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS's engines and knew that he was gone. Rose felt empty inside.

**Author's Notes:** Well I've taken my time and taken some of your helpful suggestions into mind...here's hoping you liked the results.


	8. Chapter 8

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens

Chapter 8 – The Lonely Rose

The wind whipped cold air around the buildings of the Powell Estate and Rose wrapped herself in a hug as she sat on a playground swing nearby. This playground had always been a source of comfort and joy to her as a little girl and maybe that was why she was there. She looked at the gold wedding band on her right ring finger and sighed. This certainly was not the fairytale marriage she dreamed of as a naïve child. Rose looked beyond the Powell Estate to the obscured horizon of the city. She had considered going back to the home she and John had made near the university, but the thought of going back to that empty house was too painful to bare. The lonely halls would just be a reminder of what she had lost and how she failed in the last promise she said she would keep to her husband. Maybe the Doctor was right and John was just simply gone. Gone and replaced, leaving only a man wearing John's skin walking about, cold and unfeeling to mock her and her heartache. He wanted nothing to do with her now that he changed. Would it be easier and less painful to simply give up now and just consider herself a widow? Rather than suffering his indifference, if he came back at all. Silent tears began to roll down her face. Was she expected to move on and pretend that the happiest times of her life never happened? She had been so in love, was still in love. Marrying John although they had not known each other long was not a decision she had made idly. She had considered that marrying a man twice her age would probably mean that she would eventually end up being a young widow. But she had not been expecting to be one within less than 3 months of her vows. It was so cruel of fate and she just wanted to be left alone to try to recover. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for her and who should come strolling her way but Mickey Smith.

Mickey had just finished a long shift at the auto repair shop and was looking forward to a relaxing 8 hours of sleep. The Powell Estate was just in sight and his bed was calling his name. He rounded the corner and was coming up on his apartment building's playground for the Estate's younger tenants. The bright colors of the playground toys put a smile on his face and he walked onward. Once he had walked past the slide, the swing set became visible. He then spotted what appeared to be an adult making use of one of the swings for a seat. They seemed to be very upset whoever they were. It was then that recognition dawned on him. He knew that blond hair anywhere.

"Rose? What's wrong, babe?" Asked Mickey Smith as he ran up to the misty eyed Rose. Mickey was her ex-boyfriend who had actually been her boyfriend until she had met John. Mickey was a safe, sweet and handsome man who deserved nothing but nice things to happen to him as far as Rose was concern. Rose had realized very quickly that she was head over heels for John early on in their acquaintanceship. And rather than hurting Mickey and stringing him along, she had broken off their relationship. Switching one man named Smith for another. Mickey was heartbroken but he respected Rose's wishes. Though he skeptically questioned just how happy a man like John could possibly make her. In spite of those feelings he had been so gracious and even told her that if she ever needed a friend, he would be there for her. She could sing his praise all day on any other day, but she really would have rather been left alone. Rose not knowing what else to say answered his question almost without thinking in her daze,

"He left me, well sort of, I don't know. It's complicated." Mickey looked at Rose with pity in his eyes. Rose was getting tired of that. Mickey then said but not trying to be mean to her,

"Rose I told you it was a bad match up. I mean he was over 20 years older than you"

"More like almost 900." She scoffed. Mickey not knowing what to say to that just continued on his train of thought, being firm but trying to put it as gently as possible,

"I'm so sorry, Rose. But you see, I hate to say it again… but it's like I told you, he'd get bored of you and move on. He probably never loved you to begin with. You know men like him are only after one thing. He got that and moved on to the next young thing, just like I said. I've seen it before. Old gits like em marry for a backup while they fool around with whatever tail comes their way. That's just how these things usually play out."

He had it all wrong. Rose couldn't stomach this at all. Mickey didn't know what John was like. He didn't understand the circumstances and she couldn't stand to hear him bad mouth her beloved John. He was nothing like how Mickey thought him out to be! John was kind, thoughtful and nothing but a loving and devoted partner. Not a dirty old man just after sex with a pretty young thing. She'd been the one to make the first move after all. She even had to do some convincing to get him past his moral compass about their age difference. In short, he was a sweet shy man not a pervert. She knew that Mickey was only trying to help but her voice probably came out more forceful and strong than she meant it.

"You're wrong! John is the sweetest man that ever lived and I love him, all of him. Just because he's showing me more of himself lately doesn't mean I love him any less. And I know he loves me! I don't care if I have to move heaven and Earth and every planet, somehow we're going to work this out." Proclaimed Rose.

"Then why isn't he here?" Mickey retorted not to be malicious but he honestly felt that Rose was a scorned woman who was fooling herself into seeing something in a man that was not there. She needed help and maybe he was the one who could help her and make her happy after all. Rose began to tear up some more at what she felt were cruel words. Mickey grabbed for her hands tenderly and squeezed them gently.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you. Look, I know a lot is going on right now for you, but just sitting here feeling sorry for yourself is not doing you any good at all. Are you hungry? Let's get a bite to eat, my treat, hmm? Everything can be put on hold until you have a full stomach, and then you can start tackling this problem." Smiled Mickey to Rose. He was really hoping that he was getting through to her, because he genuinely wanted Rose to be happy.

Rose looked at Mickey and had to admit that what he was suggesting sounded like a pretty good idea. She hadn't eaten anything all day. Rose had cried so much today and she was tired of it. Moping about was going to get her nowhere and a distraction, although brief would be a welcomed idea.

"Okay Mickey, for old times' sake. Just let me go get my coat upstairs. I'll be back in a mo." She smiled at him and ran off to her mother's apartment. Mickey grinned happily as he watched her disappear into the nearby apartment building. He wasn't feeling so tired anymore and he supposed that he could cheat on his bed for a little while. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around. He shifted to one foot and then the other before he noticed something slowly moving towards him. A fairly big bin on wheels was rolling toward him but there was no wind. He thought that odd and wondered if the bin was on a slight incline. He laughed and put his hand up to stop it before it could tap him. He grabbed it and then tried to push it away, but to his surprise the darn thing was stuck to his hand. He pulled and tugged but nothing seemed to work. It was like his hand was covered in some kind of sticky sap that was gluing him to the bin. He tried to pull his hand free with his other hand but quickly found that hand stuck too. Now a bit panicked he tried to run away with the thing attached to him. To his shock he was then whipped back to the bin and to his horror swallowed up by the thing when its lid opened and closed over him. It burped.

Rose had got her coat and made her way down the stairs. She still felt like she was just going through the motions but knew that it was good for her to try and do something that was normal. If she kept thinking about her crumbling marriage she probably would be finding her own mind starting to crumble too. Resigned to spend some time with a positive male influence, she tried her best to push thoughts of the Doctor to the back of her mind, for now. She was still feeling out of it and she would be fooling herself if she thought that she could suppress all her worries about the Doctor. She would just try to focus on the current and most normal problems of her not getting along with her spouse and not on the possible abandonment and growing lack of a future together. Call it denial, but it was all that was keeping her together right now. She pushed open the doors and saw Mickey waiting for her close by. She glanced up at him but barely took any notice as she was deep in thought. She fell in step with him and they started walking down the street.

What did Rose want to eat? Something fast and not requiring a lot of effort to eat would be nice. At first she was going to request a trip to the local chippy, but she thought of John. Chips would only remind her of her first "date" with John where she paid. She remembered that night well. What could have been a horrible experience was turned into a gallant display of heroism by a shy Doctor John Smith. They had grabbed Rose's hand bag and had her pressed up against the wall of a building on the side street. Rose had managed to call out a few times before she was muzzled, but if someone had heard her they did not care. Rose wasn't stupid enough to have been walking alone this late at night but the random woman she had paired up with to walk with had left her to her fate once Rose had been grabbed. The fowl creatures had her money and now seeing that Rose was an attractive mark were debating doing other things to her when a man had shouted at them. Rose recognized him from the school store and felt a wave of relief that she was no longer alone with these strange "men", but she feared that he probably couldn't do much if just being there hadn't scared off the muggers.

Now that John had gotten the muggers' attention, he had realized that he'd reacted without thinking and didn't have a plan to defend himself or the woman from harm. John would be in as much danger as the woman he was trying to defend if he could not find some weapon to even the odds of four against one. He looked about and spotted an old cricket ball in a bin next to him of all things. The moment he had seen the thing it was almost as if his hand had had a mind of its own and his hand threw the ball in the direction of Rose's four assailants. It hadn't hit any of the muggers and they laughed at him for his obvious failure.

It turned out that the ball did not need to hit any of the attackers to achieve John's goal. If the muggers had been paying any attention to the chain reaction that just throwing that ball had caused, they probably would have run away from John instead of just laughing at him. The ball had gone over the four men's heads, bounded off a trash can lid then off a wall. Just behind the muggers, the ball hit some scaffolding at what would have been considered an impossible angle to hit from just a blind throw by a normal human. The scaffolding supports on the building gave way and a pile of sandbags sitting on the top of the scaffolding fell and landed on the four men. Rose's location against the opposite building had provided the perfect shielding and she was now standing unscathed in front of a pile of sandbags covering the four men. They weren't severely hurt but they weren't happy either, fortunately they were all pinned down and had nothing to do but wait for the cops John called on his mobile to come. John put down his mobile and turned his attention to the woman he had saved now that he had done everything he could do to ensure her safety.

"Are you alright?" John asked her trying to calm down the adrenaline he still had pumping in his system.

"Yes, yes." Rose managed to gasp out as her thoughts collected themselves. Rose clasped at her heart trying to catch her breath. It was amazing what the emotions of switching from fear to relief did to a person. She felt a flood of joy as she walked over to join John in the safety of his company. She was very impressed with the amazing shot he had made.

"Lucky shot, yeah?" asked John grinning at her.

"That was luck? You're an extraordinary man if that was just luck!" Shouted Rose with glee. It had been dark in the side street and John in truth did not see who was in trouble when he happened by. He just knew that he had to do something to help. He had spotted a woman running away from the direction of the side street in distress and had run the way she came to investigate. When he saw the trouble the woman was in he could have just kept walking but that wasn't in his nature. When everyone else ran away he would make a stand and do the right thing, even if it would put him in danger.

A police car rolled onto the street and even the harsh lights of the car couldn't diminish the vision of loveliness that now had materialized in front of him. John had gasped, first at her beauty and then in recognition that he had just saved the life of a person he saw pretty much every other day. It was indeed a small world and the only reason he could fathom that he never noticed her glorious beauty before was due to the distraction of being forever late for a lesson whenever he was at her store. John had told Rose later on that he probably would have started rambling like an idiot as a nervous tick but the cops had swooped up their attentions and they had police reports to fill out. Answering the police's questions was actually how they first learned one another's names. John was growing worried that he might make a fool of himself in front of this beautiful woman who was stealing more of his senses with every passing minute he could see her. After all the statements were taken he had set himself to go on his merry way, but Rose stopped him.

"Hey wait a minute, where are you going? Are you leaving before I can have a chance to properly thank you?" asked Rose, John nervously smiled at Rose and replied,

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. I'm off in the clouds most days." John looked her in the eye but kept having to look away ever time he felt his ears start to blush.

"Are you hungry? There's this Chippy on the next street over. That's where I was actually headed before all this. If you don't mind, I'd like to buy you dinner…as thanks." She smiled nervously, usually she was confident speaking to men but now she was feeling like some silly preteen asking a boy out for the first time. For Pete's sake it was just a gesture of thanks, maybe it was the situation she just narrowly avoided that had her on edge.

John had accepted, although as she recalled, he had been very shy about it. They had their fill of chips at the restaurant and their romance began that night. Rose pulled herself out of her daydream about John. She then realized that if things for her and the Doctor ended tragically then she might have to give up chips to help forget what would with time become a painful memory. Definitely not chips for dinner today.

"I fancy pizza." Said Rose, so lost in thought that she was oblivious to the fact that her ex boyfriend was clearly shiny like plastic. The Auton Mickey smiled the most stupid grin and parroted the new word trying it on his plastic lips,

"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!" To which Rose retorted,

"Or Chinese."

"Pizza!" said plastic Mickey again.

"Alright, have it your way, you're buying after all." Rose stated as they walked toward the closest pizzeria.

**Author's notes:** You know this chapter could have gone another direction but I just couldn't resist making Mickey get eaten by a trash bin again, heh. It is one of my favorite gags in that first episode. It's so horrifying a concept being trapped and eaten but because it's just a trash bin, it's funny. Anyway, I felt that after the last chapter's drama, the story needed some comedy relief and Mickey is just the man to do it. Also I feel I cheated you out of the beginning of the story to get to the part I wanted to tell. So I'll be making it up to you with some flash backs that I'll squeeze in when appropriate to flavor the story. It also helps keep the chapters from being too short I find. So if you actually kept up with the story this far then good for you. You get parts of the story that are probably the reason why you were attracted to the story description in the first place. Cheers!


	9. Chapter 9

Complicated

By The Plot Thinens

Chapter 9 – The Bad Date and the Eye-Spy game

Rose and Mickey were sitting in the middle of an Italian restaurant. At first Rose had just wanted to get takeout. The place they had ended up going to was a little more upscale and Rose felt bad being too much of an expensive 'date', but Mickey had insisted and Rose wasn't in a mood to be difficult. Rose decided that she would just order the cheapest thing on the dinner menu instead. At least that way she wouldn't feel too much like a freeloader. They had ordered their food or rather Rose ordered. Mickey claimed that he wasn't very hungry. He just sat there and smiled. Rose felt guilty eating while he just watched but she was so hungry. She felt drained from low blood sugar so she continued to dig in with her fork and knife. She could always let him pick if he changed his mind. Rose finished chewing the food in her mouth and stared at the remains of her pineapple pizza.

"Thanks, Mickey this is really sweet of you. I mean you're the nicest Ex I've ever had, that's for sure."  
Smiled Rose, but she didn't look up from her plate. She was a little nervous but she couldn't understand why, it was just Mickey for Pete's sake. He was as harmless as they came. That was part of the reason she had dated him in the first place after her last abusive relationship with Jimmy Stone had ended. Maybe if she opened up a little to Mickey she would feel less nervous, just not too many details. If she were vague enough she could talk about her problems a bit without risking her friend's safety.

"It's just John and I are going through a rough time now but I feel…" began Rose.

"So where did you meet this Doctor bloke?" interrupted Mickey, he clearly didn't seem interested in what Rose had to say about her marital problems.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Rose. Rose was confused, she could have sworn that she never mentioned the Doctor to Mickey, but she was rather out of it for the walk over. Maybe she let it slip when she was talking about John earlier and she knew that a lack of food in her stomach did tend to make her a bit listless. Or was he referring to John's title of Doctor, but Mickey already knew how she met John.

"Because I reckon it started just before that shop fire last night, am I right? Was he something to do with that?" Questioned Mickey. Now Rose was sure that something smelt fishy. How would Mickey have known that she and the Doctor had anything to do with the shop fire last night? He couldn't have guessed. She wagered that it would be best to play coy for now.

"No." she answered maybe a bit too fast. Rose inwardly kicked herself, her 'no' might as well have been a yes. That had been a kneejerk reaction and now she had pretty much admitted that she had knowledge of the Doctor and what he was up to.

"Come on. What was he doing there?" asked Mickey again attempting to put on some charm. Well she couldn't take back what she had hinted to now, the only logical step was damage control. She had to convince him not to ask her anymore questions for his own safety. Trying to be firm Rose replied,

"I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think it's dangerous to say anything at all." Mickey now seemed a bit miffed, but he poured on yet more charm all the while having that same silly grin on his face.

"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart." Said Mickey in what was trying to come off as a seductive tone but with an odd almost inhuman twitch that was anything but seductive. Mickey then placed his hand over Rose's sleeve and that's when Rose got the wrong idea.

"Mickey, I'm flattered. Really, that you are still interested in me. And I appreciate your support, but I'm a married woman and you need to respect some boundaries now. John and I are still together." Rose stated firmly as she tried to pull away. She might have been trying to convince herself more of the last part than Mickey though. Mickey's grip tightened a bit more on her arm and jus then was the time the waiter decided to come over. Rose and Mickey were locked in a stare off and now Rose was starting to realize that she had been ignoring some very obvious things that were wrong with Mickey.

"Your champagne." Declared the waiter. Mickey not breaking eye contact with Rose and very annoyed said,

"We didn't order any champagne." 'Mickey' tightened his grip and demanded to Rose,

"Where's the Doctor?" The waiter walked around the table to Rose and stated,

"Madam, your champagne." Rose was now a little distressed from the growing pressure of Mickey clamping down on her arm and not looking at the waiter she declared,

"It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong? " Rose was now very worried and redoubled her efforts to pull free. Mickey, totally unfeeling to her struggle and growing fear hissed,

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" The waiter now sounding a bit put off announced to the two,

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"

"Look, we didn't order it." Snarled 'Mickey'. 'Mickey' was now completely losing his patience with the waiter for interrupting his interrogation and turned to the man only to realize with great surprise that it was, in fact, the Doctor. The plastic Mickey jumped up and snarled  
"Ah, Gotcha." The Doctor pulled Rose up from the table behind him and began shaking the bottle of champagne,

"Sorry to break up your date, but here have one on the house. No hard feelings." Smiled the Doctor. He very quickly popped opened the fizzing bottle of alcohol and the cork flew through the air, hitting 'Mickey' in the face. To Rose's horror the cork was absorbed into his forehead only to be spit out of his mouth seconds later.

"Anyway." said the plastic Mickey as his hand morphed into some kind of chopper. Rose screamed and stepped back as the Doctor ran forward and grabbed at the Auton Mickey's head. After a few strong tugs its head popped off.

"Don't think that is going to stop me." hissed the severed plastic head cradled in the Doctors arms. That was the final straw and onlookers began to panic and scream as they made a mad dash for the exits. The headless body began to flail about indiscriminately smashing anything in its path searching blindly for the Doctor. The few stunned guests that remained watching the scene Rose managed to herd out by shouting,

"Everyone out! Out now! Get out!" It seemed to work and the Doctor and Rose made a hasty retreat through the kitchen in the back of the restaurant. The Auton was now catching up to them and the Doctor soniced the door shut just in time to watch a sizeable dent smash into the door coming from the other side.

"Alright then, no time to waste, into the TARDIS." Ordered the Doctor. He did not seem worried at all, which was a stark contrast to Rose. Her survival instinct told her to remain close to this man or risk death. What a paradox that the safest place that you could be around a man, who always it seemed was surrounded by danger, was right next to said man. The Doctor led Rose over to the familiar blue box that he had parked behind the restaurant that they had just 'left early'. With all chivalry and pomp of a man with all the time in the world, the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and stepped aside to let Rose in. It was too dangerous to leave this human alone on her own so he would have to take her with him again. Honestly he could meet a thousand humans and never see the same one again, but this pink and yellow human, it was like fate was throwing her at him.

Rose had run into the TARDIS as soon as she was granted entrance. It was still a disorienting experience getting into the TARDIS but now she was starting to get used to it. She looked back outside the doors of the TARDIS to see that the plastic body had broken through the kitchen door and was running for them. The doctor closed the door before the thing could come in and its pounding could be heard on the door, but it was so muffled for plastic pounding on wood. It was almost as if the TARDIS wasn't really made of wood at all.

"It's not going to get in, yeah?" asked Rose for reassurance. The Doctor smiled and declared

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried." Understanding that she was now safe and out of danger she took in a deep breath and looked at the Doctor.

"You came back." Stated Rose feeling touched by the gesture and a bit disbelieving that he was here.

"Yeah well can't help it if you're a magnet for plastic creatures. That's three times I've had to save you in one day now, Rose Tyler." Replied the Doctor as he followed Rose into the TARDIS. His response made Rose feel like he had only ran into her by coincidence, which was probably the case. She sighed and sat down on the jump seat. Was he on purposely going out of his way to make her feel like she was nothing or was this just all part of the Doctor's 'charm'? She mused sarcastically. The Doctor was still on the subject of Autons as he placed the plastic Mickey head on the console.

"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. " explained the Doctor as he tinkered with the head. Rose looked a bit confused and pointed to the console

"And you can find that source with this the TARIS?" asked Rose. The Doctor rolled his eyes a bit as he turned to Rose and replied

"It's called the Tardis. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." She nodded her head and made an effort to put that name to memory. Rose's mind was rebooting now that she was out of harm's way and her mind flashed to Mickey Smith. She began to burst into tears. He wasn't her boyfriend anymore but that didn't mean that she didn't still love him as a friend. What had happened to him? She already experienced firsthand how deadly and unfeeling these Autons were. She'd ask the Doctor, surely he would know.

"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" she implored the Doctor for information through her tears.

"Oh. I didn't think of that." Said the Doctor a little dumbstruck. The victim that the Autons had imitated honestly had not crossed his mind. He was more focused on the bigger picture.

"He's my ex-boyfriend; still my friend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?" She shouted indignantly and pointed to the head on the console. The Doctor turned his head and began to panic as he dashed to the plastic head.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" he shouted as he set the TARDIS in motion. Rose secured herself down on the jump seat this time, her body seemed to know what was coming before her head did.

"What're you doing?" asked Rose. The Doctor pulled a lever and declared,

"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" The Doctor scurried about madly around the circular console as he fiddled with the controls trying to lock in on the now fading signal. He got all that he could from the head's frequency and would have to settle with the best guess that the TARDIS could calculate as to the location of the signal's origin. The TARDIS came to stop and before Rose could even say another word he was running for the doors. Rose was about to say that the Auton was out there but remembered that this was a spaceship and all that shaking the TARDIS just did probably meant that they were in another location again. Now that she had reasoned that out, she ran after the Doctor before he could get too far ahead of her. She'd be damned if she let him out of her sight again.

"I lost the signal, I got so close." Said the Doctor feeling exasperated. He stormed up to some guard railing overlooking a river. He pounded his hands down on the old railing and cursed himself for letting his conversation with Rose distract him from the task at hand. Everything in his life recently seemed to be made difficult thanks to his association with this human female. If the Doctor had been in a better mood or had even warmed up to the idea of human matrimony, he might have made a comment to himself about that being what every male who tied the knot thought. His tunnel vision now lifting he took a look around at his surroundings. He then noticed that they had landed near the Thames. In fact, the TARDIS had been parked here in the same spot just the other night.

"Ah, Westminster. Lovely, right back where we started this little adventure, just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, love that film. I trained Toto, you know." The Doctor stated to Rose over his shoulder. Despite the fact that he was shooting off random fact about himself it was clear that the Doctor was irritated and trying to distract himself from that emotion with sarcastic and snarky comments. Out of ideas for now, the Doctor rambled on about nothing, it was therapeutic for him. However, Rose wasn't listening. She looked out onto the water of the Thames and sighed. She was just so relieved that the magic ship had 'disappeared and reappeared' them away from that plastic monstrosity.

"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." Rose declared a bit worried for the public's safety. The Doctor was annoyed with Rose for interrupting his story about American 1930s film history and replied,

" It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?" Rose's thoughts of the plastic Mickey again led her mind back to the original that for all she knew was dead. Her mind flashed to images of a funeral and a grave, would they even find a body? What about all the people besides herself who will miss him and be devastated at his loss?

"I'll have to tell his mother." Sniffed Rose, the Doctor looked on at her confused as to what random thing she was going on about. Rose was affronted by his forgetfulness and insensitivity,

"Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead. And you just went and forgot him, again! You really are alien." Snapped Rose, visibly upset. The Doctor from what she saw so far was the opposite of John. John would never have been this insensitive or forgetful. It just made this whole unfair situation that she had been thrown into sting all the more. Rose's anger took the form of a disapproving glare that momentarily unnerved the Doctor, but he was too angry and irritated himself to give Rose and inch. The Doctor took an offensive stance and looked Rose dead in the eye.

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey…" He said in a firm tone.

"Yeah, he's not a kid." She interrupted and the Doctor raised his voice over hers and continued,

" It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?" Rose was upset at him referring to her as a stupid ape but couldn't deny the severity of the situation once she had been reminded what was at stake.

"All right." She clipped now on the defensive, she had just about had it with this man.

"Yes, it is!" snipped the Doctor. Rose not wanting to back off or look at the Doctor until she calmed down raised her eyes upward and then they moved to the Doctor Spaceship. It would serve as a fine distraction from the Doctor. It was probably the first time she ever really taken a good look at it. Usually when she was in front of it her mind was on other pressing matters. It was such an odd thing to be a spaceship. Odder still and out of place was the glowing text above its doors.

"What's a police public call box?" she asked in spite of her recent anger. Rose was too young to realize that the form this ship was taking was actually from her country's very own past. Upon being asked about his beloved ship, the Doctor turned to the battered blue box with a smile. Rose watched as he lovingly caressed it and a twinge of envy went through her, she didn't know why. She was furious at him and what did she care if this Doctor man was paying sweeter attentions to an alien spaceship than to his own 'technically-still-his-wife'? The more she watched him interact with the box the more her anger and negative thoughts started to fade away. It seemed that the Doctor's joy for his transportation was catching and she couldn't help but admire the odd and wonderful thing too.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise." The Doctor smiled in an almost comical way. Rose also thought that it was comical that this space alien would think that his spaceship taking on such an out of date and out of place form would count as a good disguise. The Doctor probably could have doted on about his TARDIS all night but Rose changed the subject to the emergency at hand. Which was currently still invading aliens threatening Earth.

"Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?" asked Rose. The Doctor came out of his daze and got down to the business again of being a superior uppity alien know-it-all and replied,

"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!" Rose was horrified. She didn't want her planet to be used as an alien's dinner.

"Any way of stopping it?" She inquired, after all the fate of her planet was at stake. The Doctor being so proud of himself produced a vial of blue liquid and put it up to the blonde's face.

"Anti-plastic." He smiled, waving the vial a bit. Rose looked at him a little disbelievingly, it all seemed either too ridiculously easy an answer or just plain ridiculous.

"Anti-plastic." She parroted back. At least the fluid's name left no confusing what it did, which made it easier for Rose. Got to stop a living plastic creature? Then of course use anti-plastic.

"Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" asked the Doctor to no one in particular. He was genuinely stumped and a bit annoyed at himself as he surveyed London from where he was standing.

"Hold on. Hide What?" Asked Rose, she wanted to be useful but she was having trouble keeping up with the Doctor's fast pace talking. It also didn't help that every time he opened his mouth he either talked to her like everything he said was so evident or without providing her cheat notes to keep up with.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal." The Doctor explained looking quite frustrated with himself.

"What's it look like?" asked Rose wanting any information she could. The Doctor started to walk back over to the guard railing besides the Thames and gestures a circular shape to Rose over his head as he spoke,

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." The Doctor was now standing in front of the London Eye, which was right across the river, but he wasn't looking at it. He was too busy explaining to Rose,

"A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." The massive and brightly lighted structure was impossible to not catch a viewer's attention at night and Rose was no exception. The second her eyes caught sight of it she knew without a doubt that this was what the Doctor was describing. And she gestured to it with her eyes and a slight nod of the head. The Doctor catching her signal turned to face the giant Ferris wheel, but seemed to look right past it.

"What, what?" The Doctor asked, truly puzzled. Rose gestured again to the enormous structure. She couldn't believe his obliviousness. It was bloody obvious, why didn't he see what was right in front of him as clear as day? If she had stopped to really ponder on that thought, she might have found it quite believable that he would miss something so apparent based on his handling of other subjects in his life. The Doctor looked again. Nope, still not clicking.  
"What? What is it? What?" He asked again not getting the joke. Rose rolled her eyes.

'Oh …come… on!' she thought to herself. The Doctor looked behind him again and finally the penny dropped.

"Oh." He breathed as he looked again to the structure that was the answer to his question.

"Fantastic!" he grinned happily, quite impressed for once, and ran off to cross the bridge over the river. That goofy smile of his was infectious and she felt herself smiling too. Then as soon as she registered that he had moved she was chasing after him again.

Rose was following close behind the Doctor having no trouble keeping up with him this time. The Doctor's joy was catching and despite all the crazy things that had happened to her in the last 24 hours, and the rockiness of their recent interactions, she began to smile and laugh. Then the most unexpected thing happened. Without stopping the Doctor offered out his hand for Rose to hold onto. It all happened in an instant. Rose felt a flood of shock, joy, hope and comfort all in the brief four seconds it took her to grab onto his hand. The Doctor pulled Rose along with him and any emotion she had been feeling just a moment ago was increased tenfold. For the first time since he changed he wasn't running away from her but running with her. They crossed the bridge thick as thieves to their destination and to save the Earth.

**Author's notes:** This chapter seems a bit short and since you don't seem to like short chapters, I've decided to combine two. I hope that you guys are enjoying this story. Yes sir, as I've been told, free entertainment for just the price of a smile…or a comment. Would be nice, just sayin'.


	10. Chapter 10

Complicated

By The Plot Thinens  
Chapter 10 - Fantastic Rose

**(EXTRA Note: Due to some criticism I have received, I have added a few things to this chapter. I was told that a character was a little out of character and of course I could have none of that. So if you read this before, sorry you will have to read it again.)**

Having crossed over the bridge, Rose and the Doctor were now right under the London Eye and looking for some kind of entrance to the Nestene Consciousness's hiding place. Not even winded from their jog the Doctor declared,

"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables…"

"The breast implants." Finished Rose matter-of-factly, the Doctor looked at her a bit scandalized for Rose going there, but he was still too please with her helpful discovery from earlier. At the moment a human woman this useful could do no wrong in his ancient eyes and he replied,

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." The Doctor looked around all over not spotting anything obvious to him yet. Rose turned her eyes to the ground.

'Underneath, underneath.' She thought to herself and an idea hit her. Rose ran over to the parapets overlooking the water. The Blond peeked over them and spotted a manhole cover at the bottom of the steps that led to the docks. It had to be it!

"What about down there?" Asked Rose in a booming voice so the Doctor would hear her over the water.

"Looks good to me." Replied the Doctor and he was now very very impressed with her. 'That's two in a row! Why weren't all humans this useful?' thought the Doctor as he smiled his manic grin at Rose, she smiled back. The two ran down the stair and the Doctor heaved the heavy manhole cover open. Having opened it they were bathed in red light. Rose nodded to the Doctor and the two descended the short ladder to a platform surrounded by hanging chains. Chains seemed to be all over the wall and it made the creepy place feel like a dungeon. It was scary but deserted and they proceeded to a metal door across the platform. With a creak and a clank the door opened and they were once again bathed in crimson light. They stepped through and found themselves walking down a flight of stairs to a multi-leveled chamber.

"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature." Said the Doctor as he pointed to the vat below filled with what indeed looked like living melting plastic.

"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Said Rose nonchalantly. The Doctor looked at her not happy with her attitude, but considering what she had been through at the 'hands' of this alien plastic being, it was understandable. However, she did need to learn his philosophy on killing. It was not something he did easily or willingly. The Time Lord would do his best to disassociate himself from any possible wrong doings of the guilty party in order to pass what he viewed as fair judgment. He had to give the offender, no matter what it had done, a chance to do the right thing before he would get involved in stopping any offending being.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." He said solemnly and approached the creature. Very officially and with the most diplomatic of voices the Doctor announced,

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The vat flexed and made a strange noise that was nothing but screeches to Rose but seemed to have passed for a language to the Doctor with little difficulty.

"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" asked the Doctor, the vat gave the affirmative.  
He then walked down to the lowest platform that was the closest to the Nestene Consciousness with Rose tagging behind. As they walked down they became visible to a crouched figure.

"Hey, what's up Doc? Rose. Looking lovely as ever. You two manage to get up to anything fun while I was away?" Jack said waggling his eyebrows. Rose blushed and the Doctor looked anything but amused. That was when Rose noticed the diminished figure tied against Jack's back. They're hands were also tied in front of the each other stomachs and it did not look very comfortable.

"Mickey!" Shouted Rose as she began running to help her friend she thought was dead. She placed her hand to his cheek to comfort him and looked him in the eyes. He looks so vulnerable and scared out of his mind. Rose tugged at the ropes and began to free her friends. The Doctor rolled his eyes, she was getting domestic again. 'And she was doing so well,' he thought.  
"Domestics outside." grumbled the Doctor to Rose. This was not the time for her to start getting emotional and nostalgic over an old friend. The majority of him wouldn't admit it but he also felt a hint of jealousy over the concern and attention that Rose was paying to Mickey. It seemed that feelings that John had had for Rose were bubbling to the surface at the sight of Rose holding another man. Were those his own feelings? He was angry with himself for even thinking of any of this. As a superior Time Lord, he was above such emotions. Why should he care if two apes had a cuddle for comfort? He was removed from his brooding when he heard Jack the eternal flirt say,

"You know Rose, you could always swap places with cry baby here anytime. "Trying to help Rose free them, Jack tugged at the restraints that he and Mickey were tied together with. Finally they were released and Jack jumped up from the place he had been sitting.

"Phew, Thank God you came. Mister Mickey Mouse here has been in no mood to play. He's got nice washboard abs though." Mused Jack in a mock voice. Mickey although now free was still glued to his spot by fear and could only look on as the bazaar spectacle played out before him.

"That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" He squeaked, Jack patted him on the back and simply said,

"Not as much as you have for the last 4 hours." Rose shooed Jack away from Mickey, she gave him a comforting hug and shot an incredulous look at the Doctor.

"You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive." She declared, to which the Doctor casually replied,

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." Rose was mortified, why didn't the Doctor say there was a chance that Mickey was still alive? It would have made her feel so much better.

"You knew that and you never said?" she bellowed at him, ready to put him in the dog house. The Doctor was not at all threatened and retorted,

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?"

"And we're back to square one again." Grumbled Rose under her breath, they were getting along so well up to this point. Too well she guessed. This relationship wasn't about to get any easier yet. Rose was about to give him a 'piece of her mind' to choke on, but he walked away from her down to the Nestene alien.

Mickey watched the Doctor, or rather John as he knew him, head toward the vat. This was a move he equated to suicide and wondered what crazy nut Rose had hitched herself to. John also seemed to be pretending to understand what the vat said too. The Doctor continued his conversation with the vat again having no trouble with getting answers from gargled noises.

"Am I addressing the Consciousness?" he asked, receiving a gargling noise in response.

"Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" smiled the Doctor.

The vat did not seem pleased and an odd looking thing that almost resembled a face began to make noises of protest.

"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." the Doctor barked only to be interrupted by the vile vat of plastic. The Doctor, not about to be overshadowed raised his voice higher and shouted,

"I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

"Doctah" Shouted Rose trying to warn the Doctor that he was being ambushed. He turned around to see that a duo of dummies was coming up behind him. They restrained him and although the Doctor struggled one of the dummies managed to remove the vial of anti-plastic from his coat pocket. Upon viewing the blue vial the vat began to scream angrily at the Doctor.

"That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." Implored the Doctor but the vat just shouted louder at the Doctor.

"What do you mean?" said the Doctor as he tried to yell over the screams of anger coming from the vat below. A door then opened above the Doctor's head on one of the higher platforms revealing the TARDIS. Obviously the plastic creatures had found the TARDIS parked above and brought it in. From the pit more angry screeches raised up and the Doctor was now desperate to turn the failing diplomatic situation around.

"No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" yelled and implored the Doctor over the 'voice' of the shouting Nestene Consciousness. Rose was confused but she could tell that everything was escalating fast.

"Doctah, What's it doing?" Asked Rose afraid of what the vat dweller below was up to.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!" Rose and Jack were petrified at this news while Mickey was visibly shaking from fear. The Earth and life as Rose knew it was at risk and she felt helpless to stop it. Rose thought of her mother. She could be out there right now as this invasion was beginning! She had to warn her and tell her to stay indoors away from things like shop window dummies. It would sound mad but she had to try. Rose picked up her mobile and speed dialed her mother, the phone rang an agonizingly long 3 times and finally Jackie picked up.

"Mum." Said Rose, relieved that at the moment she was safe.

"Hi, Rose sweetheart. I was just going to phone. I've got just a bit more shopping to do and then I'll be back at the apartment. Lord, the errands all just pile up. You find one thing to do then another. Are you and that dumb man of your still on the Estate? We could have dinner if you're hungry." Rambled Jackie to her daughter. Rose finally managing to get a word in shot off,

"Mum, where are you?"

I'm in town where else do you go shopping?" Answered Jackie. Rose was horror-struck; Jackie was smack dab in the middle of exactly where Rose didn't want her mother to be. She yelled into the phone,

"No, go home! Just go home right now! It's not safe outside!" Jackie was confused by Rose's urgency, but Rose was beginning to break up and it was getting difficult to hear her so Jackie quickly said,

"I'll be home in a bit dear, be patient. I'm sure you and that man of yours found something to do while I've been out, judging by your lack of control in the hallway for all to see. Just clean up any messes you made in the meantime and set the table. I'll pick up something. Ta." Jackie hung up the phone all the while Rose was shouting for her mother to get to safety. Lightning-like energy bolts were starting to shoot out of the vat of plastic and made the entire chamber quake and the structures around them, including the stairs that began to break up and disappear into the depths below. The humans and the Doctor were now trapped in the middle of the chamber with no way in or out and very much separated. No one inside the chamber could tell but the London Eye was sending of a pulsing energy signal. A very angry Nestene Consciousness was beginning to activate its signal to bring plastic to life all over London and soon, when the signal reached, the world. The Doctor tried to force his way free from the Autons's grasps but to no avail and he shouted to his human companions,

"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!" Jack looked around frightened and not knowing what to do or how to help the Doctor, he stated grimly,

"It's the end of the World." The Doctor turned his head and looked at Rose,

"Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!" he shouted. Driven by the urge to survive, the three tried to run for the stairs. Jack hated to leave the Doctor in trouble but he needed to get Rose and Mickey to safety and in the meantime the Doctor would have to cope until he got back. Finally they made it to the stairs only to see that they were no longer there.

"Quakes must have taken out the stair!" Jack cried out. With no other way out Jack's eye popped up to the TARDIS. It was across the chamber from them and that was the next likely place to go. They made a dash for it, Jack arriving at its doors first only to discover that it was locked and he no longer had his key on him. Anything even a bit suspicious in aiding his escape had been removed from his person and thrown into the chasm below. And he hadn't had any time to hide anything useful in his secret hiding place on his person before he had been captured by the plastic henchmen the night prior. He was only lucky that he had not remembered to put his vortex manipulator on the other day. He had forgotten to wear it since he had, over the last year, grown accustomed to leaving it in the TARDIS secreted away while they were in hiding. Unfortunately, anything that could be of help to them now was locked behind the ships doors and they were trapped on the outside. Mickey who had barely been able to force himself to run had collapsed on the ground in front of the TARDIS and clung to Rose's leg whimpering,

"We're all going to die!" Cried Mickey. The plastic vat began growling at the Time Lord above it and Mickey clutched Rose's leg tighter in fright. Jack felt helpless; he had nothing to use to help the Doctor. Thanks to the stairs breaking away he was effectively cut off from the lower platform where the Time Lord was being held. He could jump down and try to help the Doctor, but it was such a long drop that he might end up breaking a leg than an Auton and then he would of no use to anyone. He could only sit tight and pray that the Doctor could perform yet another one of his death defying stunts to save the day.

The Doctor now realized that nothing could be done and that they were indeed all going to die at the 'hands' of the Autons. He said an apology under his breath to the planet and people he had failed to save. His thoughts turned to Rose as he regarded the Earth's people. He had done her so many wrongs and it was his fault that she was in this current situation. He wished that he could somehow have made it up to her, but now it was too late. He had been so cruel to her and if he had to wake up married to any human, it hadn't been so bad that it was her. He looked back to Rose standing by the TARDIS and she looked at him. He was saying goodbye again and Rose was having none of it. Mickey saw the gaze in her eyes and knew that she was going to try something drastic to save her bonkers husband from this monster.

"Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!" Shouted Mickey trying to reason with his ex girlfriend and hold her back. Rose didn't listen and pulled herself from his grip. Rose now free frantically looked around the chamber for something he could use to free the Doctor from the two Auton bodyguards holding him captive. She spotted an ax on the wall and one of the many chains hanging from the ceiling. It appeared to be locked to the wall. If she could use the ax to free the chain she could use one to swing down to the Doctor and then try to help him. She grabbed the ax and with each swing of the ax she began to shout off her gathered stress as if it were therapeutic to her,

"I am sick of being the eternal victim here!" She hit the chains with the ax once,

"I've got no A-levels, possibly no future for my marriage." She said and twice the ax made contact,

"But I tell you what I have got." Third strike and the chain was free. She grabbed onto the chain and pulled on it testing its strength. Satisfied she finished her monologue,

"Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze! And I'm going down there and getting my bloody man back!" Sprinting forward and with a mighty push off the elevated platform she was swinging down to the lower level of the chamber like Tarzan. She was building up speed and most definitely catching the Autons, who saw the humans as no threat to them, off guard. They were more concern with the Doctor then the pink and yellow human swinging down on them. Rose's feet made contact with the Auton that was holding the vial of anti-plastic and she knocked the dummy and the vial into the vat below. The liquid was absorbed into the container and the Nestene Consciousness screamed in monstrous pain. As the creature was destroyed, its signal to everything plastic in London was cut off and now the plastic was changing back to just harmless plastic. Finally free the Doctor flipped the remaining Auton plastic dummy into the pit to join its 'friend'. The Doctor turned to Rose hanging from the chain and called to her.

"Rose!" he shouted and gestured for her to aim for him. Swinging back she let go when she was close enough to him. She fell but was safely caught in the Doctor's arms. It felt great to be back in his arms but even better when the Doctor gave her a tight hug, exactly like John used to. Rose smiled and she was happy as could be even with the room around her ready to explode.

"Now we're in trouble." Smiled the Doctor to Rose and they scrambled up the remaining stairs to the TARDIS. As soon as the Doctor was able to get past Mickey, who was plastered to the foot of the TARDIS, he opened up the door and Jack, Mickey, Rose and the Doctor piled inside. The TARDIS then dematerialized itself out of the chamber before the cavern was completely destroyed.

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor looked to his passengers before settling his eyes on Rose. Rose thought that now that the threat was gone, they would have the calm talk that she wanted. The Doctor, much to Rose's disappointment just started hopping around his control console pulling levers and pushing buttons. Mickey was not taking to the TARDIS very well. Despite that this ship had proven to be his salvation he stayed by the door and looked around as if anything he touched might bite him. The TARDIS finally came to a stop and the second it stopped moving Mickey open the doors and fell out. He thought that scary chamber would be better than the TARDIS but was surprised to find himself outside in a suburban neighborhood. He tripped over to a mail box and hugged it for support all the while muttering,

"It's bigger on the inside!" Rose being worried for Mickey followed him out. She was very proud of herself for saving the day and the Doctor. 'Not bad for a stupid ape' she thought. She had saved the world and the Doctor in the most ape-ish way possible, swinging from a 'vine', if that didn't deflate the Doctor's ego then nothing would. She only needed to know that her mother was okay and then her self-esteem couldn't grow any bigger. She reached for her phone and called her mother.

Jackie had been through a terrifying ordeal. She was walking about shopping and minding her own business when shop window dummies started mowing down shoppers and destroying everything in sight. She had run out of the store only to be nearly taken out by three dummies dressed as brides.

Fortunately, before she could be killed or even hurt, the dummies just stopped and fell apart. They became lifeless plastic again. She was winded from running and scared witless. She heard her phone ring and reflexively she grabbed for it. It was Rose, 'Thank goodness she's safe,' thought Jackie. Rose continued to listen on the other end to her mother.

"Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house. It's not safe. There were these things, and they were shooting! And they…" that was all Jackie had managed to say to her daughter before Rose hung up. Rose smiled, her mother was safe and she was a big damn hero. She had no end of praises for herself; after all she had saved the world with gymnastics! After having spent the past 24 hours in a depressive mood, this was a welcomed rush. Not bad for a shop girl nobody. The blond managed to pocket her phone before her tunnel vision lifted and she realized where she was. Back at the home she and John had been sharing together near campus. The TARDIS was on the opposite side of the street and the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS. He did not leave its doors though and Jack was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he knew enough to give the Doctor and Rose some privacy. Well as much privacy as you could get with Mickey Smith watching. In her slightly euphoric state none of her surroundings' significance had hit her yet, all of her world was just her and the Doctor. Rose, still riding the wave of adrenaline smirked at the Doctor and declared,

"A fat lot of good you were. " Rose was obviously referring to her double rescue of not only the world but the Doctor as well.

"Nestene Consciousness? Easy." The Doctor replied, trying to downplay the severity of the situation that they had narrowly escaped from. Though not at all succeeding, Rose was not fooled and would have her metaphorical parade. Pointing to the Doctor she announced,

"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me." Upon a quick reflection the Doctor knew this to be true. She was his lifesaver as well as the whole planet's. Relenting all of his pride he stated as fact,

"Yes, I would. Thank you."

The Doctor had a crazy idea. Well truth was that most of his ideas were crazy, but this one particularly so. He had seen Rose in action under fire and she preformed fantastically. Easily she had passed the tests proving the makings of a great companion in his book. But Rose was different, if it ever got that far, Rose was gunning for a different title then companion. A title she technically already had a right to. She needed one more test and there was only one way to do it. Holding onto the TARDIS for emotional support he was working up the nerve to do this crazy thing. He felt like a teenaged human asking a girl out. It was a ridiculous comparison of course since he was over 900 years old and they were already technically married. Was he admitting it now? What was it about this human that he now couldn't bare the idea of parting with. He wanted her with him that much he was certain, but as to the extent he was not going to go there yet. If he really wanted this he would have to make it good and word things right. Nothing but the granddaddy of all space alien pickup lines would do. He took a quick breath and tried to go for casual,

"Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge. It even travels in **time**not just space!" The Doctor put emphasis on the Time part, trying to kid himself that he was just saying and not using it as a selling point to encourage Rose to join him. After the way he behaved and all the changes he'd gone through, he didn't fool himself into thinking that Rose would simply want to come with him now. No matter what she had said earlier he knew that most humans would take this moment to be scared off now.

Rose was taken aback by what the Doctor had just said and she asked in disbelief, because she was sure that she had heard wrong,

"You want me to come with you, in the TARDIS?" Hope was on her voice and not hidden at all, their little world was only interrupted by Mickey piping up his scared voice at Rose,

"Don't go with em, he's not human, Rose. He's a thing! You married an alien. S'not even legal!" squeaked Mickey, he looked as if he were ready to wet himself. He was so shaken up by his ordeal. He clung to Rose's leg trying in his own way to protect her from what he thought was a dangerous thing. It would spirit her away and end up getting her killed, he was convinced without a doubt. The Doctor, a bit peeved by the interruption simply stated,

"He's not invited. " The Doctor looked passed Rose to the house that the two had lived in and shared as husband and wife. He regarded it almost with a look of affection. It was no TARDIS or bigger on the inside but based on John's memories it had not been at all an unpleasant stay. He looked back at Rose and gestured to the house,

"What do you think? You could stay here, if you wanted. House is paid for and you'd be set up comfortably…" He said to Rose he was giving her an out. Rose was beginning to worry that the Doctor was changing his mind and was planning to leave her behind again. As if the Doctor could sense her distress he continued,

"You don't have to but if you come, I can guarantee you that adventure is always on the menu on my ship and I know you always wanted adventure." The Doctor then smiled and patted the side of the TARDIS door.

"Is it always this dangerous? Asked Rose wanting to know what she may or may not be signing up for.

"Yes, it is." He answered; he looked once more at the house,

"Is this what you want from us? A nice house with windows and carpets and doors. Because I can never give you that, a normal life. You come with me, there will be no room for domestics in this lifestyle." Explained the Doctor.

Rose looked at the leather clad Doctor and then back to her home. Then as she looked back to the Doctor she thought that that was wrong. That's where she lived with John, The Doctor, it wasn't home. Home was where ever and whenever the man standing in front of her was. And for better or worse she had already agreed to sign up for whatever came her way with this man. True, it was a bit more than she had been expecting, but that was what most people she wagered said about marriage. This was just a more extreme case than normal. But she never wanted a normal life; she wanted a fantastic one with the fantastic man she had married. Come what may she would love this man, even if she had to learn to love him all over again. And maybe he might come to love her again too. It was a big maybe but she was willing to take a chance and give it a go if he was. And from what she observed, he was at least giving them a chance. She would rather regret something she did than something she didn't do any day of the week. Rose was about to answer the Doctor's question, she knew what she wanted but she also had to be sure that this was in fact what he wanted. She wanted to put the ball in his court.

"Ask me again. You have to be willing to ask me to come with you again, if you really want me with you." Stated Rose. The Doctor was surprised, he had been asking the questions and she now was turning it around on him and putting him on the spot. He had never before asked anyone twice if they wanted to come with him. Let alone be ordered to do so. It was almost like asking him to beg. It was gutsy when he thought he held all the keys. But then he considered that Rose wasn't just anyone and something in the back of his head told him that he better do what she said. The Doctor looked Rose in the eyes and simply stated in a voice that was mostly a question but with a faint hint of an order,

"Come with me, Rose." Rose let out a calming breath and noticed that Mickey was still protectively grasping her leg.

"I'm fine, Mickey. Thank you for all your help, but I can take it from here." Said Rose looking down at Mickey.

Rose pulled herself free from her Ex much to his protests and ran to the Doctor. She was now ready to answer his question of what she wanted. Though not desiring to push her luck too much and make him feel too uncomfortable, after having put him on the spot already, she grabbed his hand and cupped it between her palms. She looked up into his blue eyes, they were still the same eyes just a different gaze about them, and she said in earnest,

"All I need is you, all that other stuff, doesn't matter." The Doctor smiled at her answer and that was when Rose whacked the doctor on his arm with her closed fist. The Doctor looked shocked; he had not seen that coming at all. The blow wouldn't break any bones or even bruise, but it might be a bit sensitive for an hour. He was actually expecting her to kiss him, and he was bracing himself to try and act somewhat unaffected by a Rose Tyler kiss. Her kisses where great and so in a somewhat whimpering voice he questioned,

"Ow, what was that for?" The Doctor rubbed his arm and Rose started walking past him into the TARDIS.

"If you ever try to leave me behind again you will get ten times worse than that. Got it? I didn't forget about before? I forgive you this time, but there had better not be a second time. Now shift your Time Lord arse in here, Mister." declared Rose from the ramp of the TARDIS console room. The Doctor nodded the affirmative following her into the TARDIS with her eyes. She hadn't been officially on Team TARDIS for more than a minute and already she had solidified her position of alpha on board. There was definitely something fantastic about her. Maybe his human self wasn't so daft after all. The Doctor turned his attention to the dazed man standing next to the Smith's mailbox and smiled a goodbye to Mickey before shutting the door. The TARDIS then much to Mickey's shock began to make a strange noise and faded in and out of existence. It then disappeared completely. Mickey looked stunned and remembering now that he had legs, ran to where the blue box had just been. Satisfied that it was not there he looked about the empty and darkened street that was miles away from his home. Was he going crazy? Did that all just happen? He was panicking again now that his mind was reflecting on his bazaar and surreal day. He had to focus on the normal and asked himself the most mundane question that concerned his current situation that needed answering,

"Does the bus go through here?" he asked himself and started walking down the street, shutting down, for now, any higher brain functions that were not needed to accomplish his task.

Author's Notes:

Well what did you think folks? I try to make the characters act as realistic as possible. Obviously I had to change the end of the episode a bit. Also I always wondered what poor Mickey did after he was left to himself once the TARDIS disappeared. Also, spot the Evangelion reference.

I like to write a few chapters ahead because it puts less stress on me. I've pretty much got the idea of what I want out of this story. For the most part it will follow the episode line up in regards to what makes chronological sense. There will be changes but overall the general plot will remain. That being said, I am now working on an original adventure that ties in with this story and will replace the adventure during the blitz, since Jack and the Doctor already did that before chapter 1 got started. I will not tell you the order that the story will be introduced into the retelling. I will only say that I needed something to replace the Blitz arc. So just a heads up there will be stuff you haven't heard before in this retelling. What say you about that, dear readers? Do you think I have what it takes to make up my own episode for season 1 and still keep your interest? Sit back and enjoy things getting more complicated. Also the time table will be stepped up. This means that the adventures are practically on top of each other. My logic is that Rose spent most of her year of the first season with John instead of the ninth Doctor.


	11. Chapter 11

Complicated

by The Plot Thinens

Chapter 11 - On the good ship TARDIS…there are only two bedrooms?

"Welcome aboard, Rose!" Smiled Jack in a friendly but dirty hinting way to the young blond. Rose smacked the amorous American on the arm and chided,

"Remember, married woman?" showing him the ring. Jack waggled his eyebrows and smirked,

"Oh that's okay, I'm not the jealous type. I've had many fun times with married couples. In fact, just recently on this one planet the Doctor and I visited…"

"Enough out of you, yeah?" She giggled. Obviously a little thing like a gold band wasn't going to stop Captain Jack from flirting. Rose then remembered the Doctor at the console behind her. She had said that she was a married woman, but was that how the Doctor still felt? He wasn't wearing the ring anymore. Maybe she had been demoted from wife to just companion. If that was the case she hoped that it wouldn't be forever. She would be reasonable and wait for him if she had to, it would be difficult, but for as long as he would have her near him she would stay. She would also be faithful so flirting from Jack was fine but if he tried to go for anything more he would find himself disappointed. But she didn't feel anything threatening from Jack and she had known threatening men. Jack was just a big flirt and overly friendly. Not the type to force himself on you, but if you were willing then he had no objections. She was also pretty sure that he was on her side when it came to the Doctor, so he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her already strained relationship with the doctor. In short, Jack just loved everyone.

"The girl comes with us and not five minutes are we in the vortex before you start putting the moves on her." Scoffed the Doctor to Jack from behind the TARDIS console. It seemed that he was actually listening to the conversation, although he was trying to look like he was doing anything else.

"Well it would have been two minutes but she's been through a lot today and I wanted to be sensitive." Smirked Jack. The Doctor just rolled his eyes and continued his work at the console. Rose sat down on the jump seat and looked up at the ceiling. This ship was a work of art, a beautiful organic and inviting structure. The earthen colors relaxed her and the seat was well worn and comfortable. Rose found herself yawning in spite of herself. 'Oh no' she thought. Now that she was slowing down and not running for her life anymore, her lack of sleep was catching up with her. She had been up all day and had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before or rather this early morning. Jack spotted her fatigue first and said to the Doctor,

"Hey Doc, I think your bride is in need of a bed and some sleep…" he put his finger under his chin and observed Rose. Then turning his head to the Doctor he continued,

"But you still might be able to convince her otherwise about the last part, if you hurry." The Doctor grumbled at Jack's bed humor. Didn't Jack ever stop or was he hell bent on putting himself and Rose into as many awkward situations as possible? The Doctor finished his tinkering and declared,

"I'm sure that we can find her a room if she needs sleep. Honestly, you humans, how do you get anything done sleeping most of your life away?" Jack extended his hand to Rose and helped her off the jump seat. Rose smiled her thanks and walked up to the Doctor.

"Space is never an issue on my space ship. Bigger on the inside means unlimited room and rooms. The TARDIS will make you a room that's perfect for you. Come on let's find it." Smiled the Doctor a bit excited to not only see what the TARDIS would make for her, but also Rose's reaction to more wonders of the TARDIS. Jack waved goodbye to the two though he was sure that they didn't seem to notice him heading back to his own room.

The Doctor began to point out various rooms along the way to what she would assume would be her designated space for her stay on the TARDIS. It was a ways off so far and she hoped that she could remember the way back to the console room. The Doctor showed her the kitchen, the infirmary, the library with a pool in it! Even a peek of the rain forest room which had waterslides that led down into a huge lake. That she had to see to believe, she was also told that this seemingly vast forest provided all of the oxygen that she was currently breathing. Then finally they were stopped by a door down the hall that put the Doctor a bit off.

"Oi, what gives?" He seemed to be saying to the TARDIS. He didn't want to tell Rose that when he had asked for the TARDIS to make a room for her that the TARDIS had led them to his room. The Doctor then directed Rose to the next door on the right, assuming that the TARDIS was just being smart and that this room was in fact Rose's. Upon opening the door however, Rose and the Doctor were greeted by the sight of Jack naked as the day he was born.

"Not that I mind if you two want to pay a visit but most would consider it polite to knock first. Especially when the room's occupant is getting ready to sleep." Harkness sarcastically said. The Doctor, trying not to look at Jack, slammed the door and chastised the TARDIS for her horrible joke.

"TARDIS thinks she's being funny, okay sorry about that Rose. Let's try this door." Apologized the Doctor to the blond. Rose's face was a little flushed and she nodded her head. The Doctor opened the only other door in the hall besides his own and opened it, only to be greeted yet again by a naked Captain Jack.

"If you two want to come in and join me, then all you have to do is asked." Jack smirked as he stood in his room hands on his hips. The Doctor shivered and slammed the door again. 'Damn it, Jack would sleep in the buff' grumbled the Doctor to himself. Rose was now very confused as to how Jack could be in two places at once. As if sensing her confusion and loving the idea of changing the subject away from Jack's junk, the Doctor explained,

"The TARDIS is alive and she has an attitude sometimes. She can bend space anyway she wants in here, one room could be down the hall from the console room or right next to it if you or more often she wants." 'Well that would make finding the console room easier' she thought, she should just remember to stay on good terms with the ship. However one did that was beyond her at the moment but she would make a conscious effort to try. It was now that the Doctor realized that the TARDIS was going to have it her way. On this bigger on the inside ship, the TARDIS had made it quite clear that there would only be two places for Rose to sleep, his room or Jack's. The Doctor grumbled because he knew the choice he would pick just as the TARDIS did. He took a deep breath and looked at Rose.

"It seems the TARDIS is up to her old tricks again. She's only giving us two choices out of the whole TARDIS but I think she wants you to sleep in this room here." Said the Doctor.

"She's bigger on the inside and only two bedrooms in the whole place? Now that **is**being tricky." Laughed Rose to the Doctor, a bit nervously at the implication. Was this to be their room after all? Unless the Doctor had a room elsewhere that the TARDIS wasn't offering up as an option then that might very well be the case. But it was more likely that his room was just someplace else on the TARDIS. The Doctor opened the door to what he assumed was his barely used bedroom. Rose was in awe of the amazing room. It was the perfect combination of old world Earth polished woodwork and a modern design that looked alien in origin. If the Doctor had told her, Rose would have realized that the TARDIS had altered the Doctor's room a bit to be a combination of their two planets of origin. The Doctor actually liked the look but he would never tell.

"I'll be really comfortable in here, but it's almost too good for me. I hope I don't break anything." Rose said looking at all the fine antique furniture. Rose was amazed by the room it had everything, a large wardrobe that was bigger on the inside, a bathroom that was big enough for 10 people and a bed just as big. She looked over to the bed and then to the Doctor.

"Where are you going to sleep?" asked Rose who then lost her nerve a bit and directed her eyes to a drawer next to her. She was afraid of the answer.

"Oh, I don't need to, alien remember?" smiled the Doctor, that was a lie. He did need a little sleep every once and a while. He didn't want to tell Rose that he would from now on for the duration of her stay, or at least until the TARDIS saw fit to give him his own bed again, he would be catching his needed sleep on the jump seat in the console room or on the couch in the library. The Doctor always planned his sleep cycles when he knew his companions were asleep; therefore what they never saw, never happened. No one had ever seen him taking a normal rest, well except for Rose but he was human at the time and that didn't count.

"Oh, I guess that makes things easy with only two bed rooms then." Said Rose a hint of disappointment in her voice. She had liked waking up next to her husband in the morning. She had loved teasing him awake by tickling his ears and well other things, but she guessed that was now over with and it was yet another one of the many changes that she would have to adjust to. She absentmindedly opened the drawer next to her, her human curiosity getting the better of her, and then she froze. Inside this drawer were the Doctor's clothes. All his jeans and his jumpers even his dainties. She looked up at him and realization dawned on her. No doubts now.

"This is your room. The TARDIS wants me in your room." She stated; it wasn't' a question. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, he was caught now and trying to maintain his air of superiority he said

"It seems yes, but I didn't want to impose on you." Somewhat cursing his beloved ship for not moving his clothing out of the room before Rose stepped in.

"So what, you were just going to sleep on the couch, yeah? You could have at least told me that I was putting you out of your own room. I might have volunteered to sleep on the couch instead of inconveniencing you." She said in a slightly angry voice. Rose knew that this was almost a complete reboot of their relationship so she didn't know why she was getting so angry. She was just a mess of jumbled emotions from this atypical and somewhat unfair situation she had been placed in. It can only be assumed that some part of her had expected, if not hoped, that he would at least still want to share a room together. Rose was human, but not an idiot and she could tell that the Doctor did not want to share this room with her. That knowledge hurt.

The Doctor looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else then having a domestic dispute about sleeping arrangements with his 'technically-still-his-wife' companion. He wanted to duck out of this conversation all together and run back to the safety of the console room.

"Well since I don't really need any sleep, it just wasn't even an issue. If I need rest I can always just sit in a chair someplace else. I mean, I don't really need a room. Technically, I don't even need to change my clothing. Well maybe if they get ripped… But anyway, my homeostasis system is far more evolved. I don't sweat like you humans do to keep cool. I never smell either; no nose ever knows I'm about. And in case my clothing does get dirty I can always just sonic them clean. Humans just have so many basic needs to tend to that Time Lords do not. I mean you only have one heart too, which means your body has to work overtime to do what my two hearts does. So you would need the room more than me for sleep at the very least. I was just trying to be a good host in light of the circumstances of lack of rooms." Rambled the Doctor hoping to reason with her as to why them having to share a room was completely unnecessary.

That's when it hit Rose that the Doctor, since she had met him as the Doctor, he had done nothing but go on about how superior he was to humans. They were a completely different species now even though they looked fairly similar, to her anyway. What if now that John, the Doctor, remembered that he was a Time Lord, also now remembered prejudices he held toward humans that John, as a human, would not have felt? What if now that he was a Time Lord again he couldn't get past that to love her like he had before? What if the idea of having married and done 'things' with her 'a stupid ape,' disgusted him now? She thought back to the pleasant memory of two nights ago and the idea of him loathing that memory now when she cherished it broke her heart. He had human friends or rather companions, so obviously he didn't mind keeping them around as friends or "pets" at least. But you might have a monkey as a pet and even love it, but unless you had something wrong with you, you wouldn't want to marry the monkey or do things that married people do with it. Maybe he really was doing all he could for her as far as their relationship went. Maybe this was all he could kindly give her and that was what she now had signed up for. He just didn't know what to do with her now, that had to be it. Maybe he was slowly setting her up for the let down. And she couldn't go back, she just couldn't. She needed to be with him even if it would be painful. Was this what it meant to be a prisoner of love? She sat down on the bed and without looking up at him she asked a very selfish question that she knew was putting him on the spot but her single lonely heart needed to know that answer.

"Does the idea of sharing the same bed with me disgust you now?" She didn't have the courage to ask anything more direct about their love life than that. The Doctor sat down on the bed with her but on the other side and without looking at her. Rose felt the bed sink from his weight and a small part of her quaked from the memory of his weight on a mattress from times before.

"Rose. Please. Questions like that are for another day. Not now. We both need time to sort things out." Said the Doctor softly. Still facing the opposite wall from the Doctor, Rose put her hands over her face and tried to make a weak smile,

"Well, you're sitting on the same bed as me, I suppose that's progress at least." The Doctor then got off the bed and walked to the door. He didn't look back at her but he softly gripped the doorframe and said,

"If you need anything the TARDIS will provide, I'll see you after your eight hours of sleep. And Rose…"

"Yes Doctor?" Asked Rose, now looking up at him.

"Someone as fantastic as you could never disgust me." Said the Doctor and he closed the door gently behind him. Rose smiled at that comment. It wasn't a direct answer but it didn't damn her hopes either.

Rose got ready for bed. The TARDIS did indeed provide, she didn't find any clothing for bed for a woman but she did manage to find what she could only assume were the Doctor's undershirts and shorts. Even though he claimed that he didn't smell, they still smelt like the Doctor, her John, and she found that quite comforting. Maybe the TARDIS knew somehow that she would like that. He wouldn't be in the bed with her but at least she could fool her nose that he was. Perhaps he meant that he never smelt bad. The whole room sort of smelt like the Doctor, but since it was his room that only made sense. Rose climbed in between the cool sheets of the bed and noted that it also had a hint of the Doctor's scent. She closed her eyes and she felt the lights dim through her lidded eyes. She smiled; the TARDIS was a great provider of comfort. She almost felt like the TARDIS was wishing her a good sleep. Before Rose slipped into her dreams, she thought to herself, half seriously to the TARDIS, 'Do you think you could provide me with the Doctor too?' Rose was too tired to realize that the TARDIS was already trying to help do just that.

The Doctor sat alone in the console room staring at the ceiling of the TARDIS. Why couldn't he get the beautiful creature currently sleeping in his bed out of his mind? He had to stop thinking about Rose and focus on the test for her instead. He'd been fighting his thoughts for the past two hours and every time they came back to the same conclusion. Rose had meant everything to John, the stupid ape version of himself. And John, even though the Doctor hated to admit it was part of him. He had memories of everything John thought, did, felt, touched and even tasted. And with the exception of one pear, they weren't unpleasant. So Rose by default meant something to him. He wasn't sure exactly what yet, but she meant enough that if she still wanted to be, he couldn't be parted with her. That was why this test would be so important to determining where the two stood in, what only could be described as, the oddest relationship issue any two beings could find themselves in. Especially for a Time Lord who found himself in a relationship he didn't necessarily want to run away from with a member of a species that lived a fraction of what he did.

Rose was human and she had the 'defects' of human biology. In comparison to his superior Time Lord biology; her biology was a nightmare. The very air her body needed to breathe in order to survive also deteriorated her cellular structure. This single fact of her biology resulted in the biggest hurtle to a long term relationship for a Time Lord with a human. She aged. Now the Doctor wasn't shallow. Nor would he leave Rose, if he did continue his relationship with her, simply because she was no longer young and beautiful. He'd been old looking in the past and he was no beauty queen himself now. But unlike him when humans got older they wore down and he couldn't expect her to be able to keep up with him for very long. Nor would it be fair to her, but after the war he found that he lived more for the moment and planning ahead was the farthest thing on his mind.

Forgetting the subject of their mismatched life spans or her soon approaching death, in comparison to his own life, he still had doubts of her sincerity in her feelings toward him. He didn't doubt that Rose loved John and would have followed him to the ends of the Earth. But the Doctor part of him, which was the majority of him, was a different man all together. He had scars and emotional issues that John did not and Rose was not prepared for. Before he could even think about going on with her he had to test her earnestness. It was easy to feel or say that you would go anywhere with someone but when faced with actual danger or fear their opinion might change rather quickly. He wasn't planning to throw her into danger's path, but she needed to understand his frame of mind and his thinking. If she could accept that and not be scared off, they could move onto the next step. But that would have to wait until the humans' 'morning'. The Doctor settled down to meditate on the jump seat while he waited the boring remaining four hours before Jack would wake up and say something stupid to end his boredom.

**Author's Notes:** Ugh, I got a great idea for a story for this retelling, but I would have to wait and write a whole retelling of everything up to the third season to do it! What should I do? I think I'll start writing it and hope to eventually get to it if you guys actually feel like sticking with me that long enough to do so. I hate when that happens. You have an idea that fits in so far down the line.


	12. Chapter 12

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens

Chapter 12 - End of the World

Rose awoke to morning sun on her face. Or at least it felt that way. When she opened her eyes she realized that it was merely the lighting that the TARDIS had provided to serve as an alarm clock. She looked at her wrist watch. What good a wrist watch would do for her in a time machine was anyone's guess, but it would be a good way to at least tell what time her body thought it was. It had been eight hours since she had gone to sleep, exactly. 'Looks like the TARDIS keeps you on a tight schedule,' she mused. Rose rolled over and hugged her pillow, she breathed in the familiar scent of her husband and sighed. Out of all the things that had changed about her husband, she at least had the blessing that he almost smelt the same to her, there was only a little difference and barely noticeable to her. Maybe that was why John eventually got found out by the Family of Blood, but still she liked his scent and Rose hoped that everything in the room would still continue to smell like him. It was something she treasured and it brought pleasant memories of her husband in the morning.

The blond got out of bed and made her way over to the bathroom, after using the loo and the sink in the most posh bathroom she had ever been in, she left the bedroom to seek out the kitchen for something to eat. Not bothering to change or rather still being a bit too groggy to care, she found the kitchen and stretched her arms up and let out a yawn. It was as nice a modern space kitchen as it was when she saw it last night. It had a warm inviting feeling that was accented by the over head lights that looked as much decorative as functional. Off to the side of the kitchen was a polished wooden looking table with plush cushioned chairs and there was the Doctor and Jack eating toast and bananas.

The doctor was in mid-bite of his favorite fruit when Rose's yawn got his attention. He looked to his left and there was Rose in all her morning glory. Her hair was a bit ruffled having been tied up in a quick ponytail and her face was free of any make-up. The Doctor wondered why she bothered with any make-up at all. She was lovely even when rubbing sleep from her eyes. However, the thing that seemed to catch the Doctor's attention the most was that Rose was wearing just his clothes. His large white undershirt hung loose on her small frame and one of her shoulders was exposed because of the large collar of the shirt. She was also wearing his shorts and those were only being kept up by her hips and the aid of a baggy elastic waistband that hung low on said hip. The Doctor stared and forgot the fruit that he was holding just in front of his mouth.

Rose noticed that the Doctor seemed to be frozen in place but right now her biggest concern was her empty stomach. She saw the banana in his hand, 'bananas sound good' she thought to herself. Thinking that she would be a bit cheeky, she padded her bare feet over to the Doctor and stole the yellow piece of half eaten fruit. Rose could have cared less that it was half eaten and she wasn't worried about germs. It wasn't like they hadn't swapped fluids before. She took a bite out of the banana and then quickly finished the rest of it. The Doctor having come out of his transfixed gaze on Rose had enough time to gruff out,

"Oi, that was my banana, Rose Tyler." Rose smiled at him and replied,

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Jack rolled his eyes at the Doctor's attitude in front of this beautiful woman, especially when that woman was wearing the Time Lord's own clothes.

"There are plenty where those came from, Doctor. You have a banana grove on the TARDIS, remember?" inquired Jack. He wasn't in any mood this morning to watch these two argue over a banana.

"It's the principal. That one was mine." He whined. Rose giggled and stared into the Doctor's eyes.

"What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours." She smirked, Rose could have sworn she saw the Doctor's ears flush red at her statement. Rose was relieved that at least he hadn't said anything in denial of her previous statement. Perhaps if she were fully awake she might have been a bit more timid with the Doctor, but half awake and hungry put her in the perfect frame of mind to not be below trying to seduce her own 'technically-still-her husband' a bit. Rose sat down across from the Doctor and ate her fill of toast and bananas. Once she was done she got up and stretched in the most seductive way she felt appropriate with Jack watching.

"I'm going to go shower and change. I'll see you in the console room in a half hour, Doctor." Rose then left back for the bedroom, but not without making sure to sway her hips just a little more than normal.

Rose closed the bathroom door and stepped into the luxurious shower. She definitely didn't mind living on the TARDIS if it meant having a bathroom this nice. The shower heads turned on to the perfect temperature as soon as she stepped under them and would have been very relaxing. However, once the water hit her and woke her up, all of her earlier confidence seemed to wash off her and slip down the drain with the shower water. What had her half-conscious brain been thinking? Why had she done that? Now that she was awake thanks to the water and alone to reflect, Rose's mind started flooding with worry that she might had been too forward or possibly scared the Doctor off even more. All she knew for sure was that the Doctor wanted her with him on the TARDIS, but that was still very vague as to his intentions.

Rose hadn't forgotten her revelation from last night, she didn't want to throw herself at him or push too hard. If an ape at the zoo tried to romance you and came on as strong as animals do, you'd reasonably runaway. Being half awake before had made it easier to blur the line of comfort between John and the Doctor. It also helped with her inhibitions, but the reality was that she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around her husband anymore. Under normal circumstances that behavior before was her rightful privilege and she wouldn't have thought twice about doing that around John, even more so if they didn't have an audience. Now that John was whole again and remembered being the Doctor, everything was starting all over with them. Only it was more complicated because they weren't the same species anymore, what human had ever had to deal with this before? She had had so much confidence the previous night when she had defeated the Autons, and now thanks to this fact of biology, which she couldn't even help, she was completely deflated again. It was so frustrating, stressful and worrying. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted him to love her like he had before. She was willing but everything was up to the Doctor. Maybe John and the Doctor weren't so different in that sense. Their relationship the first time around had only progressed because John was finally willing to let go and love her in every sense of the word. What she really missed was his company the most, they were confidants and best friends as lovers should be. And now they were all but strangers.

Rose slumped down and felt her warm cheek against the cool tile wall of the shower. She gave herself a hug and pretended it was him. She missed her best friend so so much. If she had to have anything back, she just wanted that part of the relationship back.

"I'd trade it all if you would just hold me close. I could go a lifetime without any of the other stuff if you would just hold me." She whispered to the Doctor, though she knew he couldn't hear her. Only time would tell what would happen to them and she would have to learn to wait. Even if it took the rest of her life she would have to learn to wait.

The second that Rose had left the kitchen Jack's hand reached over the table and whacked the back of the Doctor's head.

"Oi, what was that for?" asked the doctor while he rubbed his head. He was tired of humans hitting him.

"For being an idiot and not sleeping with her last night! She's not just a companion! She is literally your wife, and it is a crime against time, space and nature that you aren't giving her the attention she deserves. You didn't have to get frisky; you could have just held her. I'm pretty damn sure that that's what she needs and wants the most right now. Some assurance that you are still with her." Shouted Jack. He was angry with the Doctor, not just for the shallow physical reason of letting such a great example of the human specimen go to waste, but also for not seeing to the emotional needs of said wonderful human specimen. The Doctor's wife needed him and the Doctor was deliberately falling short. Harkness was also angry that no matter how many times he tried to set the two of them up, the Doctor refused to take the next step. Again it was literally a crime to Jack for two people like the Doctor and Rose, who clearly had so much potential for love and happiness, to be together but not together. He had to do something that would help jump start their relationship back on track. He was out of ideas and needed help. But it wasn't like there was anyone else that he could team up with to achieve his goal of a return to marital bliss for these two. Or was there? It clicked into Jack's head that he was living inside a sentient being that could cater to your every need and could even hear your thoughts. Surely he could enlist the help of the TARDIS, if he just asked her. And if she were willing.

Not wanting to raise suspicions of his plot to the Doctor he made a big show of storming out of the room disgusted and then made a B-line for the console room once he was out of the Doctor's sight.

"Hey girl, it's the Captain of your heart." Smirked Jack to the TARDIS as he stroked one of her coral struts in the console room. He was really playing up the charisma, since charming a sentient vessel and not a programmed one was a new concept to him. He could feel the TARDIS's presence in his head, it was flattered, but politely wanted him to get down to business. Jack thought he felt that he was being listened to and urged to speak on. Only the Doctor probably felt the closest connection to the TARDIS with his telepathic Time Lord brain. Humans had to grasp at vague concepts and feelings that they would often second guess when communicating with the TARDIS. Maybe it had something to do with a lack of psychic training or even aptitude. Maybe it was just getting past the idea that something like a spaceship could be alive that caused the communication block. It almost felt like a one-sided conversation but you could hope that the TARDIS was actually hearing what you said and that if her whim suited you then she would grant you a favor.

"I think that they get along better on their own personally. Or at least when I saw them together back in the chamber by the Thames they seemed to be getting along. Well, that was until you added Mickey Mouse, domestics and me in the mix. Personally, I don't care if I have an audience at anytime, but these two seem a bit more prudish to me… What I'm saying is that I think the 'newlyweds' need some alone time. So if there is someplace you could drop me off for say… two weeks or so, where I'd be comfortable and occupied, then I wouldn't mind taking a little shore leave. It would be good for the two of them. Plus after what I went through protecting them especially the Doctor for as long as I did from body swiping aliens, I think I deserve a reward. Don't you?" Smiled Jack to the console as he walked over to the jump seat and reflected longer on his plan. Jack looked about to make sure that he was still alone for he had already been talking for a while now and he couldn't risk prying ears. Then in an even lower voice he whispered to the lovely time and spaceship,

"The lovebirds can make a honeymoon of it since they haven't been on one yet. But hey, I guess that's what happens when you get married as quick as is legally possible without tellin' your old buddy, Jack. Not that I'm bitter that he didn't let me throw him a stag night at least…Oh it would have been beautiful."

Of course in reality if he had been told by John of his upcoming nuptial, he probably would have done everything in his power to avert it. But John was a stubborn sort. That much the Captain had learned in over a year. If he had set his mind to it, then John probably would have found some way to marry Rose anyway and it wasn't like the Doctor had left him instructions for that type of situation. It also wasn't in Jack's nature to do something outright cruel to break up two people in love, even back when all he thought they were doing was just dating. But what was done was done and now he and the TARDIS had to play marriage counselors.

"Anyway, once they've patched things up a bit you could come pick me up before I cause too much trouble at my vacation spot." Said Jack and he heard the TARDIS chime and felt a warm prickling in the back of his head. It tickled and Jack smiled,

"You can tickle my mind any day, sweet heart. And hopefully I can take that as a 'Yes, I agree with you.'" Jack sat back on the jump seat and stared absentmindedly at the TARDIS console. All he had to do was sit here and wait for the two main characters in his act to arrive on stage. And if the TARDIS was amiable then his plan would play out nicely.

The Doctor and Jack waited in the console room for Rose to appear. Despite her statement of arriving in a half hour, it turned out to be 45 minutes. Which wasn't really that bad but the Time Lord was growing impatient to get on to the next adventure. Or at least that's what he told himself. He was actually anxious to see how Rose would do in the situation he was going to place her in. Either way it was going to come to a head today. She would decide to stay or go and he would know without a doubt of her sincerity to this relationship.

Rose finally appeared and Jack noticed right away that she had clearly been upset, but was now trying to recover. His heart went out to the woman. Jack was a fine tuned instrument when it came to spotting and reading emotions and no amount of make-up could ever hide that from him. The Doctor either didn't notice or was pretending not to. Jack gestured for Rose to come sit by him on the jump seat but she silently waved him off. She instead went right over to the Doctor and greeted him with a big smile. Jack was proud of her for facing things head on and deciding not to use him as a buffer between her and the Doctor. Now was the time for Jack to just sit back, watch the show, and wished he had some popcorn.

The Doctor and Rose were hunched over the TARDIS console. The Doctor had beckoned her closer with a manic grin and Rose was finding it catching. She was genuinely excited to see what this TARDIS could do and to finally be spending time with the Doctor uninterrupted by alien invaders. The only alien she was interested in right now was right in front of her.

The Doctor was just as excited too and itching to show off to the human who might not be aware of exactly how amazing his Time Lord self was. Going for nonchalant he clasped a semi-transparent ball off the console and began to toss in up and down in his hand.

"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?" smirked the Doctor, clearly showing off. Rose was a little overwhelmed by the request. How often are you asked which way you want to time travel? What did she want to do, she didn't' expect to have a say in where they would go right off the bat. She didn't care really where or when they went so she just threw care to the wind and said

"Forwards." The Doctor clicked a few buttons then leaned in closer to her and asked, as if it were nothing.

"How far?" Rose didn't know what to say to that either. Time travel was so ridiculous a concept to begin with. One hundred years seemed like a long enough time for a human, so why not one hundred years?

"One hundred years." She answered shrugging her shoulders a bit. No sooner did she say that then the Doctor was dancing around the console. Rolling a switch here, pull a lever there and twisted a knob. The TARDIS came to life and began to shake and make noise. Everyone braced themselves and a few seconds later the Doctor flicked a switch that stopped the TARDIS. The Doctor stood proud and pointed to the TARDIS's entrance,

"There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century." Said the Doctor to Rose in a cocky voice.

" You're kidding." Asked Rose in disbelief. There was no way that this was happening to her, he kept thinking that maybe this was a dream that she might wake up from. It would be a great story to tell if that were really the case, but she knew for a fact that as weird as it all was, this was her life from now on. The Doctor didn't think Rose was awed enough so he had to push for even more impressive. He also just wanted to show off more. Oh how it would feel when he saw the look on her face once she walked out those doors to the place and time he had brought her.

"That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?" he asked practically begging her to hold him up to the challenge.

"Fine by me." She laughed a bit nervously, again she honestly didn't care where or when they went. All she cared about was just being with him, but the adventures he claimed he could offer were a nice plus. And she would be lying if she said she wasn't growing more excited for the adventure in time ahead with every word he uttered.

"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire." Said the Doctor to his brand new human passenger, all the while he was beaming at his own greatness.

"You think you're so impressive." Chided Rose to the Doctor as she rolled her eyes a bit. His ego was getting a little too inflated and she felt the need to take him down a few pegs.

"I am so impressive." Declared the Doctor a bit offended by her cheek. After all he was the impressive Time Lord with the fantastically impressive ride.

"You wish." Not satisfied with Rose's response he thought that he would throw out all the stops and take her to the perfect destination that would without a doubt floor her.

"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!" Smirked the Doctor. He had had several places in mind before but the next stop would be the best way to test and see if Rose was made of the right stuff for the life she had chosen. 'Let the test begin and let the results speak for themselves', he thought.

The TARDIS was now zooming through the time vortex and the Doctor was even more manic around the console doing the same dance over but he rolled dials for longer and turned knobs farther. He even started pumping a hand pump on the side of the console excessively and extremely fast, so much so that Rose was actually feeling a hint of nervousness over his exertions. He turned one last knob and rang a bell, one that looked like the kind usually used to call for service at a hotel, for good measure. The TARDIS came to a halt and all was silent.

"Where are we?" Asked Rose a bit unnerved by all the Doctor's efforts to reach their destination. The Doctor merely gestured to the doors very impressed with himself.

"What's out there?" asked Rose curious with a smile on her face. Again the Doctor only smiled and gestured to the door. Realizing that the Doctor wasn't going to give up the information she walked to the doors with a excited smirk on her face. The adrenaline from not knowing what was awaiting her outside was pumping through her veins until nothing else mattered but finding out what was on the other side of those doors. She was about to open the door when Jack cut in front of her and beat her to the latch on the doors.

"Hold up, I'll handle this one." Said Jack looking out first and hoping that the TARDIS had worked her magic right.

"Oi, I wanted to be the first." Griped Rose teasingly, she was a little disappointed that she wouldn't get to be the first to open the door and step outside into the unknown, but it was still exciting. Jack opened the door and the second they walked outside they were on a strange parade float, that was in fact actually floating just above the ground. It was shaped like a banana and it was in the middle of a wild street parade in an area that looked like a super modern take of New Orleans. Rose poked her head out and took a step back. She was a bit surprised by the loud blaring music, noisy crowds and flashy costumes of the people on the ground around them. Jack simply caressed the TARDIS almost as if he were worshipping a lover and whispered,

"I love you TARDIS, marry me." The Doctor now having reached the end of the ramp joined the two at the doors and looked about confused as if he was shifting through a mental rolodex of some kind.

"You took us to a street party?" asked Rose not disappointed, just surprise. She was hoping for a little lower key, or at least meaningful. But hey who doesn't love a party? Talking would have to wait again since she was sure no one would be able to hear their own voice in this crowd.

"Not exactly the year I was shooting for…" The Doctor trailed off.

"Year 12105, Doc." Shouted Jack to the Doctor while he was looking at his vortex manipulator.

"OOooo, this was a really great Mardi Gras this year. TARDIS definitely marry me. We'll find some planet where it's legal!" Smiled Jack to the TARDIS as he stepped out of her doors onto the float she was resting on. This was the destination that the TARDIS had chosen to leave Jack for his shore leave and he was very much pleased. He would be plenty occupied and just by itself he could make a game out of how many handsome or pretty young things he could charm drinks out of.

"No, that wasn't what I wanted at all. I'm trying to show off and the TARDIS is playing games. I didn't want to go to New Orleans." The Doctor projected in a voice that was a bit miffed. Rose looked at him disbelievingly. This couldn't be Earth, or the New Orleans she had heard about. The sky was green and it was nighttime! The Doctor caught her look and for clarity shouted over the crowd,

"The planet New Orleans, not the Earth city." Rose shot him a surprised 'oh' look. The Doctor then walked to the quiet of the console room to see where he had gone wrong and how to get them back on track. Rose followed him without thinking about it and no sooner had she cleared the TARDIS's door then they slammed behind her, effectively locking Jack out and the Doctor and Rose in. Rose tried to reopen the door for Jack while the Doctor ran down to help her. Rose and the Doctor could not seem to make the door budge but they were able to hear a knock at the door followed by a cocky Jack shouting from outside,

"Have fun on the honeymoon!" The TARDIS then sprang to life and the two of them were rocketed into the time vortex. The TARDIS chimed and the Doctor looked slighted at the picture in his head that the TARDIS was projecting to him.

"What do you mean 'shore leave'?" The Doctor asked the TARDIS. The Doctor was peeved. So far nothing in his life was going as planned, first a marriage to a human who was and wasn't a stranger to him and now the TARDIS was acting up. He had wanted to impress Rose, and going to the wrong destination was not the way to do it. The TARDIS was up to her old tricks again and taking the wind out of his sail. The Doctor didn't seem to realize that if he hadn't said anything Rose wouldn't have known the difference and would have had fun all the same. But he had a plan and he wanted to see it carried out, no beating around the bush about this important thing he had to know about Rose and her character. The Doctor went to the monitor of the TARDIS and just as he did the TARDIS decided to stop. Everything seemed to check out this time, it was the right place. He just wished that he would be told when the TARDIS wanted to make side trips.

"Well that's more like it." He said stepping toward the doors out of the TARDIS.

"Is Jack going to be all right?" asked Rose.

"I don't know what he's up to, but he'll be fine. We'll pick him up later after he's had his fun. Probably will end up getting arrested again and I'll have to break him out like last time." Grumbled the Doctor to Rose as he opened the door and tried to regain his impressive air. Rose giggled at the Doctor's sour mood and smiled. Now that she knew Jack was safe she could focus on the fact that the two of them were now alone. Finally they would have some time together and get to know each other again. Like a second first date.

Rose was first out this time and she was excited to see the actual destination that the Doctor had planned for them. As soon as she walked outside of the TARDIS she found herself looking down some stairs in a reasonably sized room. The walls were white looking with metal panels all about. It was very clean and at the foot of the stairs and across the room was what appeared to be a shuttered window of some kind. She continued to assess her surroundings as the Doctor noiselessly followed her out of the TARDIS to a control panel on the wall. He quickly took out his sonic screwdriver and flashed it at the panel. Having completed this task the Doctor walked down the stairs to join Rose by the now opening window. As the shutters descended it began to reveal a breathtaking orbital view of the Earth and the Sun off in the distance. Rose was awestruck; it was the loveliest thing that she ever had the privilege to see. This was wonderful maybe the Doctor wasn't so rubbish at being thoughtful after all. Rose was removed from her revelry as the Doctor began to speak.

"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future and this is the day..." Rose was amazed by what the Doctor had just told her she was in the future, the real distant future and the Earth was still there seemingly unharmed. The Doctor having paused for dramatic effect he wanted to show off his Time Lord knowledge.

"Hold on." He stated. No sooner did he pause then the sun flared and turned red. The Doctor continued,

"This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world." Rose looked at the Doctor in disbelief. The blond woman couldn't believe her eyes or ears. She was witnessing the end of her planet. The end of everything that was familiar and loved. She didn't know what to say she just stared agape. Before her brain could meltdown from the information that was processing in her head she defaulted to comedy as a survival mechanism in the back of her head. And some morbid part of her brain thought,

'Great second first date.'


	13. Chapter 13

Complicated  
by The Plot Thinens

**Author's note:** You could not possibly find a better theme for AU Rose in this episode's retelling than "Tainted Love" well expect for the boy part of the song, but just change that to girl, heh.

Chapter 13 – End of the World party!

Rose was still soaking in the situation she found herself in as she walked down the stylish metal corridor to she knew not where, blindly following the Doctor. She was in space on a spaceship, called Platform One, waiting for the Earth to be destroyed by the Sun expanding billions of years into the future. Okay. An overhead feminine voice made announcements as they walked but Rose was still too dazed to hear all of it, but her ears did lock in on that there were to be other guests on this thing.

"So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" Rose asked the Doctor for clarity. Guessing that Rose's limited definition of people meant humans, The Doctor looked smug and replied,

"Depends what you mean by people." He was reveling in her lost expressions, watching her 21st century human mind trying to process all this new information, was fascinating. He loved playing tour guide. It was entertainment to him as much as it was a privilege, having all the knowledge which he could distribute about an era as if it were common fact. Maybe it was a bit controlling but he liked making people work, just a little bit, for his Time Lord knowledge. Rose was a bit frustrated with his aloof attitude but clarified her definition of what people were to her. People where people, humans. Was there a different option in this future? For all she had seen so far the only things that existed with sentient thought that were not human were the Doctor, The Family of Blood, and the Autons. And they all looked like or at least assumed for the most part, a human form.

"I mean people. What do you mean?" Asked Rose of the Doctor.

Little did Rose know that the Doctor was about to blow her understanding of life in the universe and its definition out the window. He would show her life in all forms and see if she could accept it. The Doctor saw all life and rather than reacting with fear he embraced it and regarded it with wonder for its differences. Could a 21st century human female do the same when put to the test? If she were to understand him and what he was, she would have to make it through this test. And even if she did pass it she might not want to continue traveling with him. And because of his attachment to her, though he had not locked down the nature of that attachment yet, it would hurt if she left. But in the long run that would probably be the easiest and least painful route for both of them. He easily could fool himself at the moment that he didn't have a strong feeling or pull for which way he hoped that this test would go. Time would just have to see how things would unfold as usual.

"Aliens." Said the Doctor nonchalantly and he continued to walk down the corridor by her side. Rose slowed down a bit to register that information and continue to walk but asked,

"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" She was genuinely curious as to why aliens would be interested in being around Earth on a spaceship when her home world was about to be destroyed.

"It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." Answered the Doctor in a mock serious voice. Now Rose was bowled over, of all things, why would they want to watch that beautiful planet burn? The doctor didn't seem to catch her confused look but instead waved his Sonic screwdriver at a panel on the wall that seemed to open a sliding pressured door.

"For What?" Asked Rose somewhat scandalized almost not believing the subject at hand. The Doctor placed the sonic device back in his pocket and chimed,

"Fun." He then walked through the door and Rose followed stunned at the Doctor's words but thirsting for more information.

They were now in a large area that seemed built for big gatherings of 'people'. It was posh and richly adorned with expensive looking trinkets. There also were large glass-like windows in the room that looked out into space. Specifically this room seemed to be trained on the Earth, giving the viewer the best glimpse of the doomed planet below. Rose caught up with him and the Doctor went into his lecture mode.

"Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." Explained the Doctor to his "technically-still-his-wife" companion.

"But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra. The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years." Stated Rose, even with her limited science knowledge she knew for a fact that the sun won't just expand all at once resulting in a catastrophic event. It would happen gradually over time and then slowly cook the Earth to death rendering it uninhabitable long before destroying it utterly. The Doctor, ever the know-it-all, corrected her.

"Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there? Gravity satellites holding back the sun." Stated the Doctor as he pointed out said satellites through the very larger observation windows. Yet more of Rose's rudimentary grade school education was challenged by her observations and she declared,

"The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." The planet was just as recognizable now, billions of years into the future, as it was from globes in her classrooms growing up. And once more the well of knowledge that was the Doctor piped up,

"They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over." Rose found this impossible information somehow acceptable. If you can hold back the Sun with satellites, then why can't the people of the future shift continents back too? But as for the rest, Rose was still trying to suspend her belief at this when she began to wonder with curiosity about her planet's continued relative safety. If this was the day the Earth died then when on this day did that happen? She asked the Doctor,

"How long's it got?"

"About half an hour and then the planet gets roasted." The Doctor announced to the blond, almost as if he were talking about a campfire marshmallow roast instead of her beloved home planet. His calm and joking attitude put Rose at ease despite the situation. He seemed to be on top of everything and not worried for the Earth's safety at all. Maybe he had a plan to save the Earth. He was, without argument, quite the amazing guy. Rose smiled at him and asked,

"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?" If this were the case then the Doctor, despite his mood swings, was quite the epic and heroic figure.

"I'm not saving it. Time's up." He said in a somewhat clipped voice. Rose was caught off guard and couldn't believe her ears. After all she had seen him do for the Earth in the past 48 hours, he was just going to stand by and do nothing while the planet died? That didn't seem like him from what she had witnessed so far in either of his incarnations of human or Time Lord.

"But what about all the people?" inquired Rose to the Doctor, she was worried for the Earth's inhabitants who would be trapped in the destruction.

"It's empty. They're all gone. No one left." Answered the Doctor again in a voice that was anything but sympathetic. Rose was stunned at the thought of the Earth being completely devoid of life, human or otherwise.

"Just me, then." Stated Rose who was taken aback and feeling quite alone 5 billion years into the future. Rose's lonely thoughts were interrupted by a blue-skinned person noisily entering the room. Rose was a bit startled at first by the shouted and then by the person's overall appearance. Not only was this person's skin color very odd to Rose, so were his eyes. They were yellow and slit like a cat, for a moment Rose wondered if this being was wearing contact lens. She didn't have time to think about it long for the person was now right in front of them.

"Who the hell are you? How did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now." Rose was now a little freaked out and worried so she gripped the Doctors arm for comfort. Were they going to get in trouble for trespassing? She certainly didn't want the first thing to happen to her on her first trip time traveling to be getting arrested. The Doctor seemingly unconcerned pulled the psychic paper out of his pocket and flashed the paper in front of the angry blue person's face.

"That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one. Is that all right?" Smiled the Doctor before pulling it away from the blue person's face and putting the paper back in his pocket. The man who now identified himself as the Steward, looked flabbergasted at his ill treatment and harassment of honored guest who had every right to be here. Wanting to recover from his blunder he straightened up and announced,

"Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." He then quickly departed for the lectern across the room. Rose was amazed at how fast the Doctor had turned around the situation in their favor and she declared,

"That paper, I saw you use it the other night on that security guard. You flashed it at him and they let us in." The Doctor smiled at Rose and produced the paper so she could have a better look.

"The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." Now no longer threatened with being kicked out, Rose's attentions went back to the odd steward.

"He's blue." Stated Rose to which the Doctor simply replied the affirmation.

"Okay." Was all Rose could say in response to him. What else was there to do at this point but accept whatever came her way in this never before experienced situation? The steward took this moment to tap at the microphone-like object sitting at the lectern and announced to an all but empty room,

"We have in attendance the Doctor Smith and Rose Tyler Smith. Thank you. All staff to their positions." And with that a horde of small statured blue servants began to file into the room.

Rose smiled at the announcement and looked to the Doctor as she absentmindedly twisted the ring on her ring finger back and forth. It was a little encouraging, if that was what he wanted the Steward to read on the invitation. The smug part of her just wished that someone besides the steward was there to hear it. She liked the idea of all knowing even a few billion years into the future that they were a couple. Of course, the rational part of her brain then had to kick in and tell her that he probably had just done it for appearances sake or out of necessity in a delicate situation. Maybe it was for sake of propriety in the future, she didn't know. But for now she was going to be optimistic and hope for because he wanted them to be known as a couple. The Doctor on the other hand had looked confused after hearing the Steward speak and quickly pulled out the psychic paper again to check on it. That wasn't what he had wanted the man to see. Why did the Steward see that? Though the Doctor didn't have too much time to worry about the psychic slip up because a few minutes later the first of the real guests had finally arrive through the door.

Rose was truly in for a sensory overload as the most unusual creatures or rather people began to walk through the door as they were announced by the Steward. She had never seen aliens that were so alien looking before. Rose didn't know whether to gape in wonder or hide behind the Doctor in fear. Any reaction though would simply not happen as she was quite utterly glued to the floor in stunned fascination next to the Doctor. The Doctor, who was obviously used to this lot, was his usual charismatic self and greeted each alien as skillfully as any diplomat. Among the honored guest Rose observed were tree-like looking people representing the Forest of Cheam, whatever that was? The Steward then announced that an exchange of gifts representing peace would take place during the event. All the while more strange creatures came into the room, including yet another blue creature with a bulbous head, The Moxx of Balhoon, being carted around on some kind of float. More strange oddities came through the door. Creatures with smoke coming out of their heads, hooded figures known as, The Adherents of the Repeated Meme, and things Rose couldn't have hoped to ever have imagined on her own came through those doors.

The tree people where the first to approach the Doctor and Rose. The female tree, Jabe, and her two tree bodyguards were elaborately dressed and creatures of literally natural beauty. Rose could honestly day that she was the loveliest walking tree that she had ever seen and with the elegance and grace of royalty she declared,

"The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather." Jabe then handed the twiggy plant cutting in a pot to the Doctor who accepted it with gusto and great respect. The Doctor now looked a bit off guard and nervous as he realized that he was expected to give a gift in kind. He handed the little twig pot to Rose and started thinking about a gift to give Jabe. He had no gift suitable to speak of; that he was fast discovering as he riffled through his pockets. Thinking fast he offered the only thing he could.

"Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you in return air from my lungs." He then began to breathe gently on the tree woman, whom seemed very pleased with the gift. Perhaps tree would appreciate a little CO2, if that was even what they breathed now.

"How intimate." She responded in a breathy voice. To which the Doctor smiled back in a jovial tone,

"There's more where that came from."  
"I bet there is." She said back in an amorous voice while giving the Doctor a good 'once over' glance that made Rose feel a twinge of jealousy. Once more Rose's thoughts were interrupted by the Steward.

"From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." Announced the Steward. A huge face in a jar, was now among the guests at this party. The Boe face was odd to be sure but not at all unpleasant. It seemed to smile at everyone in the room through the glass of its jar, but before it passed it made quick eye contact with Rose and she smiled nervously back. Rose turned her head at the sound of the Doctor's voice raising in glee to greet the next guest who happened their way.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." Smiled the Doctor as he got slightly down to his small alien's level by bending over. The tiny blue alien seemed to appreciate the warm gesture and responded in the most respectful and formal way possible.

"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas." Announced the little alien; he then promptly spat in Roses face. Rose was shocked at the disgusting gesture but for the sake of diplomacy she kept quiet and whipped the alien saliva from her face. The Doctor much to her annoyance did not seem at all bothered by the fact that she had just been spat in the face and he even thanked the alien for it. This was starting to turn into a trial of her patience Rose felt and almost found herself dreading the next guest to happen her way.

Rose was right to feel so, for the next group of people where those hooded creatures with metal arms and scary raspy voices. Something besides their appearance also bothered Rose and she didn't want to be around them at all. The Doctor didn't seem fazed at all by the imposing figures and continued to socialize with the best of them.

"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." The Doctor breathed onto one of the hooded figures who in turn raised a huge metal claw and placed a metallic ball into the Doctor's hand.

"A gift of peace in all good faith." Rasped the Meme, and the Doctor handed off the ball to Rose.

The Memes then proceeded to give similar gifts to all the guest and attendants. All the festivities were put on hold as the Steward declared the appearance of the final guest to arrive.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen." Rose's curiosity was peeked at the announcement of another human, especially if it was the last one. To Rose was dumbstruck when instead of a bipedal mammal strolling in, a face in a piece of thin skin stretched on a rectangular metal frame wheeled in. Alongside this 'human' were two attendants covered from head to toe in white hospital looking gear. On their backs were weird packs with a spray pump coming out of them. The stretched skin then began to speak, Rose just gape while the Doctor smiled his manic grin.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand." Sang the flap of skin. It then whispered to its two attendants,

" Moisturize me. Moisturize me." One of the attendants did just that and sprayed on the skin. Now more comfortable the skin continued to talk.

"Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye." Announced the skin which looked like it was going to cry, but having no tear ducts an attendant appeared to try to drop water on it, but the skin declined. The Skin had an attendant produce a large egg for the crowd to see.

"Behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity." The crowd did not seem moved, amused or even entertained by the skin. Cassandra was starting to look awkward in front of the crowd for reasons other than being a flap of skin.

Rose was now very interested in learning how this talking skin was even possible and not believing her eyes she began to walk around the talking skin to confirm what her senses were telling her. It was indeed a thin piece of talking skin, but she did not have time to gawk at the back of Cassandra for long as the skin presented yet another earth relic. It was a classic, or at least by Rose's time it was, but now it was most likely ancient music player, a jukebox, which the skin mistakenly called an ipod.

"According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!" shouted the skin. A little attendant then pressed a button and the song 'Tainted Love,' rang out. Just the absurdity of this being considered a classic Earth song was strange and ridiculous enough to Rose but then the Doctor started old man dancing and bobbing his head to the music.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes." Announced the Steward over the loud speaker and the festivities began.

Under different circumstances Rose might have at least laughed at the Doctor's antics but surrounded by aliens, in an alien environment, while aliens partied over false information about her planet was too much for her. Faced with nothing familiar and even the only thing recognizable, the Earth, about to be destroyed, she went into what could be described as a form of cultural shock and dizzily walked out of the room for air. She hoped that the empty halls would help clear her head. It was then that the Doctor noticed Rose leaving the room. She looked rather upset and he was concerned for her. The Doctor went to follow Rose only to be intercepted by the tree, Jabe. The Doctor was stopped in front of Jabe long enough for the Tree to take what he assumed was his picture before he was able to maneuver around the Tree. The tree thanked him but the Doctor did not hear her. Nor did he notice the tiny metal spider-like creatures beginning to creep through the shadows of Platform One.


	14. Chapter 14

Complicated

by the Plot Thinens

Chapter 14- Strangers on a space station

Rose was walking down one of the many corridors of Platform One trying desperately to get her wits about her. 'This is life now. And it involves aliens. And Space Travel. And Time travel. This is what I married into. Okay. And I am not crazy, and this isn't a dream, this is really all happening.' Rose thought to herself as she looked for some form of comfort to put her mind at ease. She felt isolated and lost and she was wishing that the Doctor had held her hand, mentally if not physically, a bit more for this. Rose realized that the future, once she was able to comprehend that she was actually in the future, would be different but she was not prepared for how different it would be. If the Doctor was trying to throw her into this life head first without looking then mission accomplished. But if this was his way of easing her into his life then she was growing worried if she could keep up with him.

The 21st century woman found a little alcove with an observation window and Rose gazed down on the Earth. She focused on the still familiar classic Earth and tried to zone out. It was so peaceful looking that it was hard to believe that it would be gone in less than a half hour. Rose's ears registered footsteps behind her and she turned to see who was approaching. A young woman who seemed to be the same race as the Steward that Rose had seen earlier was coming round the corner. She was wearing overalls with a workman's cap and a box filled with tools of some kind. She looked harmless enough but Rose was on edge and feeling cautious, maybe she had wandered into an area she shouldn't be in.

"Sorry. Am I allowed to be in here?" questioned Rose. The woman looked a bit surprised that Rose had even spoken to her and responded,

"You have to give us permission to talk." Rose looked perplexed at what she viewed as an odd and unnecessary restriction imposed on the Platform One attendants. Also she was not used to being in a position of superior authority over another, well other than her husband, but that had started to come into question lately.

"Er, you have permission." Said Rose feeling a bit silly. The blue woman's posture changed instantly at being granted permission to speak and she smiled as she let out a relaxed sigh.

"Thank you. And, no, you're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere." The woman smiled as she leaned down to unlock a metal panel near the floor by Rose.

"Okay. What's your name?" Asked Rose relieved at the prospect of having a one on one conversation with someone who despite their appearance seemed normal enough. And to be honest Rose was a bit more comfortable and in touch with anything that remotely resembled the working class. She was also interested in learning more about this friendly and polite individual.

"Raffalo." Answered the woman as she continued to do her work.

"Raffalo?" Questioned Rose; wanting to make sure that she heard right. Raffalo smiled again and politely replied,

"Yes, miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance. There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe's suite. There must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water." The Face of Boe, Rose had seen that head jar person earlier. He had set up this party and he had a plumbing issue in his suite. 'Plumbing, I know what that is, that's familiar, thank goodness!' were the thoughts bouncing around in her head. The Londoner was relieved some things maybe didn't change.

"So, you're a plumber?" inquired Rose desperate to confirm the existence of something familiar to her as a plumber. Ever helpful Raffalo quickly answered the affirmative.

"They still have plumbers?" Stated Rose. It was more of a declarative statement than a question though. Rose was so happy, she could instantly relate so much more easier with this one skilled worker than any of the stuff shirts she had meet so far back in that gallery observation room. When removed from all things familiar it was true that one could begin to appreciate the simplest things from their usual life. She found her anchor, if she could relate to this one thing that they had in her time then she could surely find other things to relate to in the future.

"I hope so, else I'm out of a job." Smiled Raffalo. Rose bantered on with the plumber for a few minute about small talk until the conversation came to the subject of places of origin. Now that Raffalo had told Rose where she was from, the blue woman inquired to where Rose was from. But only if Rose didn't mind telling her, the plumber explained. Rose didn't really know what to say. She couldn't tell the truth could she? Was time travel a normal thing to space aliens? Would she sound loony if she said she was from the same planet about to die a few billion years in the past? Rose decided that it would be better to be a little vague on the subject.

"No, I don't mind telling you at all. Um, I'm a long way away you could say. I just sort of hitched a lift with my husband. Well I… at least I'm pretty sure that he's still my husband. I'm kind of taking him at his word from a few days before. I mean to say… he's changed so much. It's like I don't even know who he is anymore. He had this whole other life that he was keeping secret from me when we got married. He didn't mean to, but he did. And now he just expects me to fall in line with his life. And I don't even know if he's going to make any compromises with me either. I wonder if he even is considering my feelings most times… And now he's not really the man I married anymore, but he is…and and there is just so much now to learn about him. He's almost, like he's a complete stranger. I don't even know his name!" Babbled Rose to Raffalo. The blond was fast realizing that she was having another 'panic attack' like the one she had in the large gallery and that what she was saying was starting to sound very bad. Rose had to change the subject before she ran out of places that she could retreat to in order to get some air. The human woman began the process of calming herself down. Raffalo however did not miss that Rose seemed upset over her situation and tried to mask her concern behind her professional air. Even if guests had messed up lives or were in questionable situations it was not her place to say anything. But she could still be sympathetic.

"Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it." Announces Rose as she regained her composure and began to walk away, but before she could go Raffalo thanked her for extending to her the unusual permission to socialize with a guest. Rose smiled at her, it was nothing really. Rose should be thanking her. Being able to touch base with a relatively "normal person" from this time had helped her ground herself in this century more than the Doctor had at this point. He seemed content to throw her into the deep end of the pool and see if she could swim. Rose walked off to a place, that she still hoped was private, to really think about her circumstances right now with her technically-still-her-husband.

The Doctor lost track of Rose and was trying to locate her as he combed the halls of Platform One. Honestly, he always told companions to not wander off and what was the first thing that they would always do? Wander off. He had even specifically instructed her on not running off two days ago and of course she didn't listen. Not only that but didn't she know that she was going to miss out if she stayed hiding any longer? The Doctor had notice that she seemed upset and he wasn't blind enough to realize that she was probably feeling a bit in over her head right now, but how was he suppose to evaluate her if he couldn't observe her? The Doctor was about to head down the last corridor that Rose could possibly be in when he heard the Steward's voice on the overhead informing him that he had to valet park his blue box that was currently illegally parked in Gallery 15 immediately. Apparently it had been moved to the Steward's office and that was where he had to claim it. The TARDIS was now taking priority, as they needed it to leave and getting the TARDIS impounded would just add unnecessary difficulties later. He supposed that Rose would be fine on her own for a few more minutes.

Rose had found her way back to the same Gallery that they had arrived in. If she had not heard the Steward's announcement then she might have been worried to find the TARDIS not there, but as she had heard Rose was content to sit and stare at her dying planet out the window. Why had her life had to be so dramatic? She had thought that after marrying John and making efforts to get her life on track would, well, get her life on track. Instead she had been thrown down a path that, even with her past, she couldn't have ever expected. And now she was married to a man she knew even less than any human stranger on the street she could find. He was a stranger who didn't seem to want to take an active part or initiative in getting to know her personally or let her begin to know him. If this relationship was going to go anywhere they had to learn to talk to each other, again.

Once more the loudspeaker chimed her planet's remaining minutes left to live and Rose sarcastically voiced her thanks for the information to the air. Rose looked to the little tree cutting that she had carried with her and found it somewhat comforting. It was the only think here that, beside the Doctor, looked at least like something familiar. Perhaps she did it to calm herself or maybe she was losing it, but she began to talk to the little plant. Implying that because she was named Rose and it was a plant that they might be related. Finally Rose got her senses about her and realized that she was talking to a twig and continued to mope. As Rose was sulking she did not seem to notice that just behind her perch on the stairs, one of the 'gifts' that she had been carrying around for the Doctor was behaving strangely. The small silvery ball that had been given by the Memes had opened up a secret compartment revealing a tiny spider-like robot. It scampered around a bit as it got a feel for its new environment, unseen by Rose. Finally getting its bearings, the spider spotted Rose and deemed her a threat. It stalked up, unseen and unnoticed, to attack her but was spooked by the sound of someone approaching from the door behind them.

"Rose? Are you there?" called out the Doctor to his technically-still-his-wife. Not wanting to risk exposure, just yet, the metal spider quickly retreated into an air vent and disappeared out of sight.

The Doctor walked through the door leading to Rose's location and unknown to Rose or the Doctor, the Doctor had saved his wife's life from the little monster. The Doctor having found his human companion jaunted down the stairs, all smiles, and sat himself down on the opposite side of the staircase. Rose couldn't help but feel that his choice of seating and the distance the staircase put between them served as an appropriate metaphor for their current relationship issues. The human woman looked at the Doctor acknowledging him, but found that now that he was in front of her, she was finding it difficult to start a conversation. How different that was for her? Back when The Doctor just knew himself as John, she never shut up around him and vice versa. That was, of course, unless one of them put a stop to the other's gob with a kiss. Again Rose was finding the situation difficult and pounded her head mentally for some topic to bring up just to break the ice. Fortunately, Rose was saved the trouble when the Doctor, now comfortably reclined on the staircase asked,

"Aye, aye. What do you think, then?" That was a very vague question to Rose. 'What do I think? I think that I'm feeling alone. Scared. Confused. And you aren't helping.' Thought Rose to herself, but she was looking for a conversation and not a fight. And this was the first time that he had tried to really engage her in conversation instead of the other way around. She didn't want to mess up this chance so for the sake of this possibly being a longer conversation she decided to talk about the current event and not her marital issues yet. Taking a deep breath and trying to sound more confident and relaxed then she really was she replied,

"Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper." Having answered his question, hopefully to his liking, Rose decided to try to talk about how the alien-everything was making her feel.

"They're just so alien. The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em and they're alien." Explained Rose struggling to get her point, meaning, whatever, out into words. She wanted him to understand her clearly and was finding her own apish tongue inadequate to aid her. She didn't want him to feel that he was being insulted or that she was being insensitive. She just needed him to understand that she needed some time and understanding to get through this situation. It was a lot to swallow all at once and she had hoped again to be eased into his world. However, if he wanted to throw her head first into it, she was going to try her damndest to make it.

"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." Joked the Doctor, who might have been trying to dodge a more serious conversation with the human. Rose wasn't in a mood for jokes anymore and nor did she want the Doctor cracking jokes right now when she was trying to yet again have a serious talk. Who did he think he was anyway? He couldn't dangle her on a thread just because he was some big and important space alien time traveler from…

"Where are you from?" Asked Rose. She already established to herself that she knew nothing about him, but now obvious questions that needed answering were floating to the top of her head. It would be nice to know what planet she had married into. Much to Rose's disappointment, the Doctor replied,

"All over the place." Vague again, she moved onto her next question, not feeling the need just yet to press him. She could still get more answers out of him later in their chat if she changed the subject to a more comfortable subject. In hopes to loosen his lecturing tongue she asked about the future aliens,

"They all speak English." Worked like a charm and the Doctor declared,

"No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the Tardis. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates."

This bit of information left Rose dumbstruck. Didn't he see fit to tell her anything? If he was going to let some piece of alien hardware probe and mess with her head, then it would have been nice to at least ask her first.

"It's inside my brain?" She asked for clarity, she still couldn't believe his thoughtlessness. What if something went wrong and it accidently scrambled her brain? To her knowledge messing around with something as delicate as the human brain was and/ or could be a very very bad thing.

"Well, in a good way." Shot back the Doctor with a smile, sensing Rose's distress. She was done treading softly and now wanted to make it clear by spelling it out exactly how she felt to the Doctor.

"Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?" reprimanded Rose to the Doctor.

"I didn't think about it like that." Replied the Doctor, obviously not thinking it such a big deal.

"No you don't think do you? Big Time Lord brain that you keep bragging about and you don't have a single thought for common courtesy. You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? All I know about you is that you're a Time Lord, whatever that is, but it sound stuck up, yeah?! And that once my husband got all his memories back he became an unfeeling, uncaring git to his wife! And that I don't even know your real name!" Shouted Rose to her moron of a husband. The Doctor was now getting peeved with her round of questions and her attitude sat up straight and announced in an irritated voice,

"I'm just the Doctor." Why did humans always need more? Why wasn't just The Doctor a good enough name, movie stars and rich people on her planet gave their kids weirder names than his. Thought the Doctor to himself.

"From what planet? Where are Time Lords from?" Demanded Rose of her husband. Again the Doctor was irritated, what did it matter what planet he was from? He could have said he was from the planet of the bananas for all she knew and even if he said that, she would know no better.

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!" Said the Doctor in an aggravated tone. Rose was having none of his misdirecting answers.

"Where are you from?" She yelled. The Doctor raised his voice to match the blond and leaned in and shouted back,

"What does it matter?"

"What does it matter? It matters to me! Tell me who you are! Who did I marry?" bellowed Rose, why did he even ask her to come along if he wasn't going to at least tell her his bloody postal code. Surely just telling her the name of his planet wasn't going domestic. And why was his name such a secret? The Doctor had no patience left for this blond human.

"This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me." Barked the Doctor, clearly on the defensive.

"Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me." Demanded Rose but also almost imploring too.

The Doctor didn't want any part of his brain to think about where he was from or who he was. He traveled through all of time and space now just to forget and runaway from his past and now how dare this ignorant Earth dweller try to drag him back kicking and screaming to those dark buried thoughts. If he even stopped moving for a minute his mind drifted to dark thoughts, couldn't she just leave him be? Had he not suffered enough? She didn't know him and she just swooped into his life when he was literally in the most weakened state he'd ever been in and now was making demands of him. Taking him out of his comfort zone and well complicating his already complicated life that he wished would get uncomplicated already. But no, when every time things seemed to be going according to plan the universe would throw something in his path and now he was stuck with this human who, for Rassilon's sake, he could not understand why he couldn't get rid of, even if he wanted to. Everything would have been easier if she had just gotten freaked out earlier and ran away screaming from him like all humans normally did. Why was she so different? If one of them didn't make a decision once and for all for her to stay or go, and soon, it was going to drive them both crazy. This test was taking forever in the Doctor's opinion and he wished it would hurry up before Roe started bugging him for information about his childhood too.

The Doctor, needing some space from the heated argument, got up from his seat and walked lower down into the room to the observation window. Rose was about to tell him not to walk away from their discussion, but their frustrated and angry argument was interrupted by the computer voice from before telling all that the Earth only had 20 minutes to live. Having a break in the conversation made Rose realize that she had let her temper get the better of her and now this turtle of a alien man had gone back into his shell and who knew how long it would take for him to poke his head back out again. Any further discussion on the subject might make him take even more steps away not just physically. Rose got off her perch and walked down to the Doctor side to join him. She relented for now and took a deep breath before saying in a calming but nervous voice.

"All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver. Can't exactly call for a taxi." This light attempt at humor seemed to relax the Doctor's mood. If she didn't save this conversation and now, then if they had been dating, and not married, under normal circumstances, this probably would have been when the date would have ended for the night. They could then give themselves time to cool their heads before making up. But there was already enough distance between them and she didn't want to leave him alone. She wasn't blind and could see that something about the information that he was withholding upset him, she just couldn't think what that was. Looking for a distraction Rose's hand from memory found their way into her pocket and pulled out her phone which she looked at more out of habit then wanting to make a call. Looking at the screen she realized that there were no bars on her mobile phone indicating that there was no signal for her phone to catch. Realizing she might be able to use the phone as a topic to change the conversation around and possibly get the Doctor talking again she declared in a voice trying for light hearted,

"There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit." This statement peaked the Doctor's interest and he had an idea of what to do to fix such a simple problem. He dashed over to Rose and grabbed her phone gently from her hand.

"Tell you what." said the Doctor as he took the back of the phone apart and replaced its battery with some space age looking attachment.

"With a little bit of jiggery pokery." He continued as he fiddled with the phone. Rose found what he was doing as fascinating as what he was saying. Loving the direction the conversation had taken she began to smile and joke with the Doctor over his tinkering.

"Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?" Smirked Rose as she got closer to him as she looked over his arm to watch his nimble hands work with her phone. The Doctor just smiled back,

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?" Rose laughed and replied,

"No, I failed hullabaloo." The Doctor sighed in sympathy for her and finished his phone modification by putting the battery casing back on.

"Oh. There you go." Said the Doctor as he tossed Rose the phone looking quite proud of himself.

Rose looked at the Doctor a bit in disbelief and confusion of what he just did to her phone. She figured that she would test it out to see if it did actually still work with the battery replaced with something else. It appeared to be on and she speed dialed her home number. To Rose's delight the phone began to ring, she was calling her mother 5 billion years into the future! She smiled to the Doctor and he just smiled back. Finally her mother answered the phone.

"Hello?" Asked Jackie into the flat's phone, on the Powell Estate, back in the 21st century.

"Mum?" Asked Rose in return, still not believing that she was talking to her mother in the past while being in the future. If she were to keep traveling with the Doctor then this would be a great comfort if this phone worked in any time or place. This was the sweetest thing the Doctor could have done for her now that she felt so alone and upset. And how very domestic of him to help her call her mother to make her feel better. For a guy who claimed not to do domestic, this was very domestic and she appreciated the gesture with all her single heart. But that warm feeling went right out the window the second Jackie realized that she was talking to Rose.

"Rose! Where are you, love? Are you safe? Are you hurt? I've been worried sick! I haven't heard from you since last night! I nearly get killed and I come home and find the place looking like there was a fight! Did John do it to you! Did he hurt you?! He did, didn't he? He's got you locked up and bleeding somewhere doesn't he?! Just tell me where you are and I'll have the coppers after him and get you out of there. He's no good for you, oh just wait until I get my hands on him, he won't live long enough to see his day in court!" panicked Jackie over the phone, all the while Rose was trying in vain to calm her mother down. This was not easy when she couldn't get her mother to stop talking long enough so she could explain herself. Finally Jackie had to take in air to breathe and that was when Rose seized the moment.

"Mum! I'm Okay! John didn't hurt me, I'm fine!" Rose pleaded. Jackie was not buying it and figured that Rose was being coerced somehow. Perhaps she was even at gun point and being made to say those things. Her mind was running wild with thoughts of horrible situations that her only daughter could be in.

"Then why was the table smashed in? Is he listening? Just give me a signal and I'll call the police!"

"Nothing is wrong, Mum. John is such a klutz, you know, that he slipped on the rug and broke it! We went home after that so he could rest. We're out getting you a new coffee table now. He's really sorry about that, yeah? You all right, though?" Lied Rose, it wasn't like she could tell her Mum that she was attacked by plastic in the form of an arm and that's how her table got smashed up or that she was 5 billion years in the future right now and not at a furniture store. Once she got back her Mum would have her committed and probably the Doctor too if she could catch him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? You called me last night and I was fine. Just don't scare me like that again, got it?" Scolded Jackie.

"Right, I'm sorry. What day is it?" Asked Rose wanting to change the subject back to something more pleasant than Jackie's dislike of John.

"Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover? What, is that why you weren't back at the flat when I got home? Went back to bed with that man of yours? I bet he's always getting you drunk. Are you still coming over tonight?" Declared Jackie.

" Yeah, er, I mean, I was just calling 'cos…I might be late coming back.

"Why, is there something wrong? Really you can tell me." Whispered Jackie to Rose.

"No. I'm fine. Top of the world." Smiled Rose to herself as she looked out at the Earth through the window. Jackie had no choice but to be satisfied with her answer and hung up the phone. Rose held the phone out in front of her and looked at it in awe.

"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." Smirked the Doctor to Rose. Rose was still silent but finally spoke her thoughts out loud.

"That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead." Said Rose, the concept just dawning on her of calling someone who had been dead for billions of years by the time the phone call was made. The idea of her mother dead, being in a time where her mother was surely dead saddened her.

"Bundle of laughs, you are." Said the Doctor sarcastically. Suddenly, there was a rumbling and an explosion noise. The platform then began to shake for a bit and stopped. Shaking was a little disconcerting when in outer space on a space station. It was clearly not normal and the Doctor looking about conspiratorially said to Rose matter-of-factly,

"That's not supposed to happen." The Doctor then ran off to the large Gallery containing the other guest. Hopefully he could find some answers there. Rose followed behind him, she knew something was up and even if though the Steward announced that it was just a gravity pocket, whatever that was. The Doctor was clearly not convinced and based on her experience with the Doctor; his knowledge was most likely superior to the Steward's.

**Author's notes: **Sorry for the update delay folks. I've been a bit busy as of late and I'm actually getting sleep again! I've been conking out pretty early lately, so my time I'm usually up writing had been diminishing... so good for me bad for you, I guess. Sorry. But I will not abandon this story. Do not worry about that.


	15. Chapter 15

**Complicated **

by The Plot Thinens

**Author's note:** Okay, I know I'm probably shooting myself in the foot updating so fast, but I can't stand the suspense. I hope you like it, I'm always worried about the general response. Especially since I had such a rocky start. It is actually a lot of pressure to make something that deviates from the original script but still seems believable. NOTICED some typos and fixed them sorry about that.

**The Sh_t hits the fan – Chapter 15  
**  
The Doctor with Rose in tow made their entrance back into the main observation gallery. There was a computer panel on the side of the door they just step through and the Doctor proceeded to fiddle with it trying to find out as much information as he could about the 'gravity pockets'.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." Declared the Doctor to Rose from over his shoulder. He then noticed that Jabe was observing them from just a few steps away and asked for her opinion.

"What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?" Jabe just looked at him a little confused. She was not an expert by any means on the subject of metal and replied,

"It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me." The Doctor still not discouraged asked another question,

"Where's the engine room?" Jabe didn't know the answer either and was feeling a little inadequate for not being able to be more helpful to this engaging Doctor man. She then got an idea and announced to the Doctor,

"I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife." The Doctor looked startled at the implication that Rose was his wife, he didn't think that the way they conducted themselves screamed married couple. He knew for a fact that none of the guests had been close enough to hear the Steward's earlier implied announcement, thanks to the psychic paper mix up. He would have sooner expected someone to mistake her for his daughter before they would think that such a lovely creature could possibly be married to an ugly scarred old man like himself. Someone like her should be surrounded by countless young and handsome suitors not hitched to an old sinking battleship like himself. What was she thinking when she agreed to marry John? Suddenly he realized that he had to say something and declare a title to Rose in relation to him. The Doctor's mind was going a-light-year-a-minute and he stumbled and tripped on his words as he tried to get them out. Half of him knew what he wanted to say and what Rose was desperate to hear, but that stubborn other half wanted to say different, a battle for a single word on his tongue began so all he managed to get out was,

"N… Ye… well, it's complicated…" He trailed off and tried not to look at Rose because a part of him felt despicable for what he just did to her. Why could he not escape domestics? Especially with this pink and yellow human. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? Why did everyone else think that everything needed a title or designation? He didn't have too long to cringe as Jabe fired off more questions trying to determine what Rose was to him.

"Partner?" She asked a little mystified by the faint responds, they might not be married but they could be a bonded pair, she thought.

"No..." Well, she sort of was but that wasn't the word he would use to describe her. There was no putting in words what she was to him or what his feelings for her were, maybe he should have said that out loud. He began to realize that this was fast escalating into a misunderstanding or communication error. Now Jabe was getting curious, perhaps his relationship to this little blond person was somewhat embarrassing to mention out loud in mixed company, like an escort or mistress, and that was why the Doctor was being so evasive in her questions. Couldn't let the missus find out through the grapevine that you were out and about with some pretty young thing while she stayed at home. Or perhaps she was of a lower class status to him. Still she needed clarity or the closest that she could get to it before moving on further. She really fancied him and the sooner she established that the blond was of no consequence to the Doctor then the sooner, without being rude to either party, could she begin to engage the Doctor in more intimate conversation.

"Concubine?" inquired Jabe conspiratorially under her breath, moving down the list of familiar associations in a voice loud enough for the three to hear but not the rest of the room.

"No, nope." Clarified the Doctor, really wishing this conversation would end now. And why did everyone always thing everyone was sleeping with everyone else? Well technically they had, and how!.. but that was under complicated circumstances, difficult to explain even if he wanted to explain it to a stranger.

"Prostitute?" Jabe asked as a finally solution to what Rose's relationship to the Doctor must be. 'She had to go there' thought the Doctor trying to convince himself that nothing insulting had been implied of Rose. Although another part of him wanted to be outraged at the suggestion, but the Time Lord part of him that despised domestics tamped those feelings down. Rose on the other hand looked outraged. Who did this tree woman think she was speculating such things about her as if she wasn't even in the room? And she voiced her displeasure,

"Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind? I've gone through enough today without being called a slapper on top of it all." Rose's attentions then turned to the Doctor, was he going to defend her? Before she was too shocked at his earlier response to Jabe's questions, especially his vagueness on his marital status, and was just watching dumbstruck as said conversation between the Doctor and tree went on. Now that she had remembered herself she looked at the Doctor affronted. But then she remembered that it wasn't John she was looking at, it was the Doctor now, and things were different. It was painful when he said hurtful things, especially for the brief moments whenever she forgot that she wasn't listening to just John anymore. If it had been John she would have either smacked him or ran out of the room in tears, maybe both. But again with the Doctor her feelings were jumbled. She knew what she wanted to feel, but it didn't seem right for some reason too.

Rose was trying to look into the Doctor's eyes but he was skillfully avoiding her glances. Still, he had not outright denied that they were married but he had not confirmed it either. She reminded herself of his neutral stance in order to remain optimistic. After all, undecided was still more of a chance than dead-set against, right? This situation was just as odd to her as it was for him. The blonde understood that and she wanted to help them both through it. And as much as she wanted to rage at him in frustration, she knew that her best bet now was probably to do the adult thing and give him space if he still wasn't comfortable in public with their relationship. Although she didn't want to widen the gap between them more, she was realizing that she might have to take a step back to get to take steps closer to the Doctor. And she wasn't going to stand there and be insulted while her husband just stood idly by either. Maybe this would pour some guilt on him for his ill treatment of her, either way the blond was going off on her own again. She wasn't some helpless thing and she was angry with the doctor, so why shouldn't he sweat for a while? If he were physically capable of it. Of course this was all hinging on the idea that he actually cared if she were upset and could just as easily backfire if he got the impression that she was indifferent to his behaviors around others, especially women. She had to be brave and try a leap of faith, Rose took a deep breath and said in the most mature voice she could,

"Tell you what, you two make like a tree and 'leave' for that duct. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." Rose then began the painful march away from the Doctor to the skin flap 'human'. Perhaps some human-like company would do her good even if it did seem a bit stuck up. The Doctor made some joke about her not fighting and in a most gallant fashion, that Rose had not seen since the Doctor only knew himself as John, lead the elegant and refine Jabe away on his arm.

"And I want you home by midnight." shouted Rose in what she hoped didn't look or feel like a pathetic attempt to appear to be in control of the situation or her husband. Rose wasn't sure if the Doctor heard her as she watched him leave in the arms of another woman, but Rose just straightened up and made her way past the odd looking aliens. She hoped that he got that she trusted him alone with her, that she knew he wouldn't cheat. She then let out an exasperated sigh at her train of thoughts. 'No domestics, no domestics, he's just being diplomatic. He wants to make sure we're all safe. You agreed to this.' She chided herself.

This tree woman liked the Doctor, Rose knew that, and as much as the Doctor's words had been discouraging to her they were also encouraging, but to Jabe it was only encouraging. Rose surmised that Jabe's desire to show the maintenance ducts to the Time Lord was done not only to be helpful to the Doctor but also to fulfill a strong wanting of alone time with him. What that implied was frightening to Rose, especially since he seemed more open and comfortable with the tree woman than his own human wife. Rose was upset but she would show that she trusted him. That was what they needed. Trust was the first thing that they solidified in their relationship the first time around and it would have to be for the second time too. So as much as it hurt her to watch another woman, at least she thought it was a woman, walk off with her John; she had said that she was going to say hi to the family instead. And once more the Earth's oncoming death was announced. Fifteen minutes remaining.

The Doctor and Jabe made their way down the maintenance duct unaware that the multitude of tiny spider robots that had been engaged in gremlin-like activities had just sneaked out of sight. Much to the Doctor's irritation he learned from Jabe that not only was he dealing with a technical problem but a bad case of old fashioned hubris too. Jabe had informed the Doctor that Platform One was completely automated, believed that nothing could go wrong with it, and as a result there was no crew to fix things if something went wrong with the vital guts of the ship.

"Unsinkable?" asked the Doctor of Jabe as he rolled his eyes. Jabe looked a bit confused as he made the ancient metaphorical connection and the replied,

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?" Announced the Doctor.

"I'm afraid not." Said Jabe sadly. The Doctor once more rolled his eyes and proceeded further down the maintenance duct.

"Fantastic." He sighed. Jabe once more looked mystified at the Doctor's choice in words. Perhaps it was a language or cultural difference and inquired,

"I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?" She then dutifully followed behind him, ever so curious at what the tall, mysterious, and somewhat charming man would do next.

'Maybe this wasn't a good idea,' thought the Doctor. He wanted to give Rose the shock treatment, not put her in the path of possible danger for no reason. If things got any worse he might have her hid away in the TARDIS until he sorted this problem out. Not that he was concerned that he couldn't fix the problem, but it would be one less thing to worry about if she were safe in the TARDIS. Of course from what he had seen so far of Rose and what memories he retained from when he was John, she probably would never agree to just stay behind in the TARDIS, when he was possibly in even a little danger, unless he tricked her. Either way he better finish dealing with this fast.

Back in the observation room, Rose was finding out first hand why Cassandra appeared to be the odd man… er… skin out of this group. Her previous speech had hidden nothing of her personality and she was everything that she appeared to be at a glance. Any sense of cordiality was literally only skin deep. Metaphorically underneath that skin, because she was only a few millimeters thick, she was a cruel and stuck up excuse for humanity. How depressing if this was the last technically genetically recognized human. Oh but she was speaking again, how she even managed to do that without the use of vocal cords was still a wonder to Rose and she couldn't help but stare at the talking skin, even if what came out of 'her' mouth wasn't at all pleasant.

"Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun." Rose realized that if this 'human' had lived on Earth before it was vacated as the Doctor told her, then maybe Cassandra would know where all the humans went. And how humanity had died out. Rose with more enthusiasm then she had been previously showing toward this conversation, due to her attentions being divided between gawking at the skin and wondering what the Doctor was up to, questioned,

"What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?"

"They say mankind has touched every star in the sky." Answered Cassandra as if she were performing on stage. If that was the case then there was no way humans could all be extinct.

"So, you're not the last human." Asked Rose in a somewhat accusatory voice.

"I am the last pure human. The others mingled." She answered with pride of her pedigree and then with disgust toward the 'remnants' of her kind. Cassandra then continued on about her hateful disgust of what was left of humanity.

"Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish, but you know what I call them?" declared Cassandra. The last part she indicated with her eyes for Rose to come closer so that she could whisper her answer seemingly to not be heard by the rest of the guests.

"Mongrels." Realization dawned on Rose, and any forced diplomatic respect instantly disappeared towards the racist flap of flesh still stubbornly clinging to a dying bit of DNA code.

"Right. And you stayed behind." Said Rose with sarcasm in mock agreement.

"I kept myself pure." Said the skin with pride and an air of regality that she thought only came with her 'quality' of breeding. This was ridiculous, Rose couldn't believe the level of backwards thinking this 'person' had clasped onto just to, in her eyes because that was all that was left, not change. It was pathetic how much she had changed herself to 'not change'. Disgusted she asked Cassandra,

"How many operations have you had?"

"Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached." Announced the skin proudly, as if it were a great accomplishment. Cassandra then gave Rose an appraising glance, not seeing something that met up to her standards of perfection she asked Rose,

"Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out." Rose couldn't believe what she was hearing from this skin. Rose was more than happy with herself and her appearance for starters. She didn't need to change her outward appearance to be happy. And she could never fathom doing what Cassandra had done to herself just to cling onto life a little longer. This was no way to live. There was no dignity in how Cassandra lived. It wasn't even living at all. What Cassandra considered as the normal way to continue existing was, to Rose, worse than Rose's worst nightmare. She then replied without any hesitation or thought,

"I'd rather die." Cassandra, mistakenly thinking that Rose was simply too scared of what the skin flap saw as a simple and safe procedure, retorted with a smile,

"Honestly, it doesn't hurt." How could it? She barely had any nerve endings left. Rose then made her statement as clear as she could and declared,

"No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline." Cassandra was now put off by Rose. She had completely misjudged the pink and yellow thing in from of her and condescended,

"Oh, well. What do you know." The Skin then rolled her eyes at Rose and looked away. Rose got up in the skin's 'face,' she was angry. The blond was through with being polite to this thing as it 'stood' there insulting not only Rose's mind and appearance, but also what were her future human descendants. And no one insulted her family not even, through an accident of biology, the last remaining thing that was the closest genetically to her. With the pride of the entire human race, and what it would one day become behind her and even the Earth, both physically and metaphorically, she announced to the skin,

"I was born on that planet, and so was my mum, and so was my dad, and that makes me officially the last human being in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking." She then walked away with her head held high and irritated that she had wasted one millisecond of her life talking to that thing. Little did Rose realize that has she left the room the Adherents were watching her and that a petty and stuck up thing was plotting revenge.

The Doctor and Jabe were now even closer to the heart of the platform's inner workings. The Doctor was using his Sonic Screwdriver to help direct him to the appropriate panels and systems that he needed to visit to evaluate the mechanical problems. It figures that he would go to a place to party and end up playing repairman instead. Getting bored of silence and always looking to expand his knowledge he decided to engage Jabe in some small talk as they searched.

"So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this?" asked the Doctor. The Tree smiled and replied,

"Respect for the Earth." The Doctor didn't buy that as the full truth and pushed for more information.

"Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions." Jabe had to admit that it was important to show up at the right occasion in order to network, be seen in the right places and help business along.  
The Doctor smiled knowingly, he knew all about the business lot and especially the Trees. They were not only rich but land wealthy too. Jabe agree that share prices had part to do with her visit to the Earth but all the same she and her people held great respect for the Earth. The Trees were descendants of the trees of Earth after all. The Doctor then excused himself to fiddle with a computer panel, but Jade was still curious about the Doctor and his reasons for coming. Or rather more how this trouble finding being was able to come at all. The Doctor cursed to himself as he was denied access to the computer, his actions however were interrupted by Jabe.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left." She declared before taking on a more sympathetic tone.

"I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am." Said Jabe sadly and in earnest, she then placed her wooden-like hand over the Doctor's leather clad arm to show her sympathies and support. In a gesture surprising even to himself he placed his hand over hers. It was strangely comforting to find someone that he didn't have to first explain his trouble to in order to gain sympathy and understanding. Nothing had to be said or explained because it was already understood by both parties. At Jabe's words the Doctor quietly wept, but his sad thoughts were broken up by the sound of the metal door his efforts had finally managed to open. The Doctor and Jade then walked through the door into the newly accessed engine room.

Once inside the engine room the two aliens found a humongous chamber with a catwalk leading to the other side of the room, inconveniently blocked by giant rotating fans. And around the catwalk was a sheer drop down to the depths of the Platform in a design strangely reminiscent of the Death Star in one of the Star Wars movies. It wouldn't surprise the Doctor if those movies and their influence survived this long into the future. But any way, it was an odd design for this time period, thought the Doctor. The Doctor then commented on the temperature of the room being nippy before getting back to the business of finding out why the Platform had shaken in the first place. However, little to the Doctor's knowledge, his jeopardy friendly human bride was stepping into more trouble.

Rose found herself once again marching the halls of the platform to air her head. So far the only thing she liked about the future was nothing much at all. She hoped that all of the Doctor's trips wouldn't be like this. Or if they were then she hoped that she could speedily adapt to them. Rose shook with indignity at the memory of her talk with Cassandra and wondered if she couldn't find Raffalo again or the employee lounge to talk to some real future people and not these stuck up dignitaries. Rose was removed from her inner thoughts by the sound of feet trooping up the hall. She looked up only to see the creepy Adherents coming upon her but before she could even get out of their way the world went black. Rose had dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes after having been pistol whipped to the side of her head by one of the cloaked aliens. Having knocked their prey silly, they dragged Rose into the adjoining room.

The Doctor observed the fans again as he looked about the room for some bit of hardware or software he could deal with.

"Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro." Smirked the Doctor as he finally came upon yet another panel to inspect. Jabe had no idea what retro was or most of what was coming out of the Doctor's mouth but she continued to watch and listen. Using his sonic once more, The Doctor scanned the locked panel and it opened. But much to both Jabe and the Doctor's surprise a tiny little metal spider scurried out and began to climb up the opposite wall of the engine room.

"What the hell's that?" Asked the Doctor deservingly. Jabe was even more confused by the little robot and asked the Doctor,

"Is it part of the retro?"

"I don't think so. Hold on." replied the Doctor as he concentrated on aiming his sonic screwdriver at the spider-thing. Before the Doctor could act, Jabe much to the Doctor's amazement had lassoed the menace with a vine like appendage from her hands. The Doctor complimented Jabe on her catch to which Jabe blushed and explained that she wasn't suppose to show them in public. She was Indicating to the Time Lord that it was an intimate act to display them in front of the Doctor, even to just help him. The Doctor found that he was finding himself liking Jabe more and more by the minute. She would have made a good companion, but his TARDIS had more than enough occupants at the moment and he was pretty sure that the life he led wouldn't be in her style. He was probably just a passing fancy to her anyway. Someone fun to flirt with and possibly get a good night in the sack with, but nothing more.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?" inquired the Doctor to himself. Jabe observed the tiny metal creature with fascinated horror,

"What does it do?" she asked. The Doctor grimly replied,

"Sabotage." This thing was obviously set here to tear apart this space structure, and who knew how many more there were onboard. It was then the over head computer chose that moment to announce that they only hand ten minutes before Earth Death. A grim reality struck the Doctor as he realized what these things, because most likely there were more, were here to do and he shouted off as he ran back to the observation gallery,

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." The Doctor had really stepped in it now and he just hoped that this Time Lord had not run out of time.


	16. Chapter 16

**Complicated **

by The Plot Thinens

**Baptized by fire –Chapter 16  
**  
Seemingly unaware of the trouble at hand, the aliens gathered to watch the 'show'. Cassandra, acting as the undesired master of ceremony bellowed with pride,

"The planet's end. Come gather, come gather. Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad." The jukebox was turned on once more and the inappropriate song, 'Toxic' by Britany Spears began to play and was piped through the loudspeaker for all on Platform One to hear.

The Doctor and Jabe sprinted down the corridor to warn the other guests, but they found their progress impeded by a thick and sickly smelling smoke from a room that appeared to be the Steward's office. As they came closer they found that blinding light was peeking out of every crevice leading into the office. The Doctor pushed through the crowd of short blue attendants to have a look at the information panel on the wall by the door. The Doctor Soniced the panel and the sun filter in the unfortunate room began to rise, indicated by the computer voice.

"Is the Steward in there?!" shrieked Jabe horrified. The Doctor continuing to work his sonic on the data panel declared,

"You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend." This was horrible; it couldn't be descending without a reason. The sun shields appeared to be going down with very obvious intent. Some other poor soul must be in that room. Faced with this grim possibility the Doctor raced for the unlucky gallery hoping he would not be too late to save a life.

A lovely young woman lay unconscious on the cold-tile like floor. As she started to come around she began to become aware that she was lying down and her back was feeling cold on the cool floor. But it was starting to get warmer. 'Oh, my head. What happened?' thought Rose, she then opened her eyes trying to recognize where she was. 'Back in that little gallery room. How did I get here? Did I fall down the stairs?' she asked herself confused. Rose raised her left hand and gently massaged her sore temple. 'And why am I hearing Britney Spears?' she asked her sore head, even more confused. Suddenly the music was cut off by a loud voice overhead that began to boom, it was almost deafening, and it became brighter in the room. Finally the blond had her wits about her and she realized just what it was that the loud voice was saying,

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending." Announced the computerized voice heralding her doom and the temperature spiked. Rose looked to the opening window and knew that she was in trouble. Survival instinct kicking in she found her legs and ran. Rose scrambled as fast as she could for the exit that would lead her to the hallway and hopefully her salvation. But much to her horror, it was shut tight. Frantically she banged trying to get it to open. How sad was it that in the future, technology had advanced to the point that she didn't know how to open a door anymore? Then she remembered being hit by the Meme and for whatever reason they must have trapped her in here. And if the slowly descending window was any indicator then she knew the reason.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Cried Rose to anyone who could hear her. The Doctor had round the corner and finally arrived at his destination. As he worked at the door panel with his sonic he prayed that no one was behind those doors. He shouted over the computer voice indicating that the sun filter was still lowering,

"Anyone in there?" Rose heard the Doctor's voice and felt a flush of relief but quickly began to panic again as seconds felt like eons to her,

"Let me out!" Screamed Rose as she pounded on the door as hard as she could. The Doctor's hearts sank into his stomach and he redoubled his efforts.  
**  
**"Oh, it would be you. If you are trying to set a record for most jeopardy friendly companion, then you have already done it." He had to stay calm and keep an air of indifference. Even if in the back of his head, he was panicked as all hell that he wouldn't be able to save her in time. 'I'm a time lord. I'm the Doctor. I'm brilliant. I can save her, this is no problem.' Was The Doctor's mantra as he frantically worked with his sonic screwdriver.

"Open the door!" Shouted Rose to the Doctor again in hysterics.

"Hold on. Give us two ticks." Answered the Doctor as he tried to get the sun filter to go back up. Scorching rays of sun light began to burn the top of the door and Rose found herself starting to duck from the heat. At least she wouldn't die too alone and with a witness, the back of her head thought as she crouched down. Just as she was about to lose hope, Rose heard the words from the computer voice that made her breathe a sigh of relief,

"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." But no sooner did it begin to rise then it began to fall again and Rose's panic was renewed.

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending." Said the unfeeling computer voice.

"Just what we need. The computer's getting clever." Bellowed the Doctor more to himself then to Rose. He then ripped out the door to the guts of the room's controls to attempt a manual override. Rose obviously not pleased with the Doctor's progress, and driven on by urge to survive and not die horribly shouted,

"Stop mucking about!" The Doctor, honestly trying to do his best and get results in the fastest way possible yelled back a bit indignant,

"I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back. Sit tight, this is no time for a spat!" Rose and the Doctor shouted back and forth along with the shielding that was rising and falling as he battled it out with the computer. The shielding had fallen so low that it had chard half the door and Rose was forced to seek out lower ground.

**"**The lock's melted!" Cried Rose as she ran to the lowest step in the room that she could to avoid the sun's unshielded heat for as long as possible. She hunkered down to the floor as far down as she could go. She was terrified as she continued to hear the emotionless voice of the computer loudspeaker trumpeted her doom,

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending." 'Was this it?' Rose asked herself? Was this how it was going to end? Burned up like her planet, how ironic. The human was beginning to see that when death is imminent, and after one gets past the expletives, many things flash through a person's mind. Rose thought of her short life and how she was going to be leaving it with so many regrets. She regretted the pain she would put her mother through and how she would never even know her daughter had died. She'd end up just another mystery on the back of a milk carton to haunt her mother to her grave. She also regretted never having a chance to say goodbye to her friends. But most of all, she regretted never having been granted the time to patch up things with the Doctor. That was a privilege that time seemed to have cheated her out of in exchange for an unspeakable death. How different would things have turned out if she had taken that job at Henrik's years ago instead of her job at the university bookstore? She would never regret having met John, which was the catalyst that had led up to this point. For those brief months of happiness she probably would do it all again. She just hoped that when death finally came, and ended her internal monologue, that it was quick. She regretted leaving the Doctor alone and with so many things unresolved and unsaid on both parts. Her only comfort was John's words, that he was the Doctor, the Doctor was John, and that he loved her. That she would hold onto until oblivion. She took a deep calming breath, probably her last, and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see it coming. All the while the computer could still be heard in its deafening voice,

"… Descending. Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising". Hearing the change in words, she opened her eyes and confirmed that sun filter was indeed rising! She made a B-line for the door and started pounding on it yet again, begging the Doctor to let her out of the terrifying room. Much to her horror and a bit to her mortification the Doctor replied through the door,

"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!" As if she had a choice.

"Where am I going to go, Ipswich?" She shouted through the door her body pumping with adrenaline from her near death experience. She let out an exasperated groan as she heard him running back down the hall, leaving her to sit in this deadly room while he went off and did who knows what? She sat down on the ground and just hoped for his sake that he was doing something to save the day, everyone onboard and her.

"Earth Death in five minutes." Announced the computer voice, boy, did Rose ever want to break that thing.

When the Doctor arrived in the main observation gallery, Jabe had already informed the other guests that the spider-like robots had infiltrated the whole Platform One and that they were very much in danger. Cassandra raised her voice in disbelief and the Moxx had called for to Steward to which Jabe had to sadly inform to the guests that he was dead. After a collective gasp Cassandra accused the Face of Boe of getting them into this trouble which Boe denied with a head shake. The Doctor then took this moment to take over the situation and to explain how things had come to this and who was responsible for their calamity.

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master." Said the Doctor knowingly. The Doctor then proceeded to place the spider-like machine on the floor set to return to its controller. The spider had scuttled off part of the way to Cassandra before scanning her and she looked as nervous and guilty as a flap of skin could. The Spider then made an about face and walked over to the group of black hooded figures. Cassandra, quick to accuse shouted,

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" The Doctor did not look convinced and strolled up to the accused and said,

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it…" one of the Meme as he approach took a swing at the Doctor but the Time Lord was too quick and grabbed the creepy things arm before ripping it clear off. The doctor continued,

"A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." With a quick pull of wire from the arm he had dislodged the Adherents collapsed to the floor. The Doctor now really on a roll declared,

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home." The Doctor then gave the little spider on the floor a gentle nudge with his foot and it dutifully returned to its real master, Cassandra. The Skin looked miffed and unimpressed.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Shouted Cassandra as her attendants raised their spray guns in a menacing fashion.

That brought back memories. Kissed? Oh, he'd been more than just kissed alright and fairly recently too, he smiled to himself as his thoughts unexpectedly gravitated back to Rose. He felt awful for leaving her behind in that room alone, but there was a dangerous situation he had to fix first. Directing his attentions back at the pompous flesh, in a mock voice he then raised his hands to his chest and asked,

"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" And in a witch-like voice Cassandra spat condescendingly,

"With acid. Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face." Why was she going through all this trouble? There were less out of the way, dangerous and suicidal ways to kill people. Unless killing herself with them was the plan as some kind of twisted revenge for some perceived past wrong. Or maybe she was just an idiot after all because she didn't seem suicidal just homicidal.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" Retorted the Doctor.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." Smiled the skin despite her disappointment for how the situation had deviated from her plans. The Doctor couldn't believe it. Didn't bad people ever change; even in the future? She had killed and was trying to kill people to get cash!

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money." He said angry but also disappointed. Cassandra seemed unhurt or concerned with his judging statement. She had procedures to pay for.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours." The Doctor's anger was growing at Cassandra's insult of Rose and his anger only steadily climbed as he was reminded at what she had tried to do to Rose. Various people in the gallery voiced their outrage and demanded her arrest. But Cassandra was not concern and as the computer voice announced that the Earth would be dead in three minutes, she knew she had to act fast. In triumph she glared at the Doctor and all the guest, she then manically declared,

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."

"Then you'll burn with us." Piped Jabe to the hated enemy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate. An explosion was heard throughout the Platform that rattled the structure, even Rose, alone in the small gallery felt it and screeched. Cassandra's deed done, she declared to the room,

"Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me." The computer voice announced that the Safety system was failing and Cassandra bid her ado to the crowd before teleporting away along with her attendants.

"Heat levels rising." Called out the computer voice and guest shouted to someone to reset the computer and all its safety systems. But it could no longer be done remotely, it would have to be done manually with a system restore switch. The Doctor knew where to find such a switch and ordered Jabe to come with him, he might need an assistant. Then before leaving the room he told the remaining guests,

"You lot, just chill." Perhaps he was trying to make light of the situation to calm them down a bit but he doubted it would work.

"Heat rising. Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes. Heat levels critical." Announced the computer, as The Doctor and Jabe reached the engine room. Across the room was the system restore switch and unfortunately some design flaw had placed three large fans in front of it.

"Oh. And guess where the switch is." Said the Doctor sarcastically, he then pulled a lever on the wall that slowed the fans down and the computer once again announced that critical heat was raising and that it was too hot outside. The doctor released the lever to get to the switch on the other side but the moment he let the lever go, it shot back up and the fans began to spin faster fruitlessly trying to make it cooler in the large room. Jabe pulled down the lever knowing that if she stayed longer it would be very bad for her to say the least.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." Jabe acknowledged this but clearly voiced that she didn't care though she looked scared. The Doctor tried to dissuade her,

"Jabe, you're made of wood." Jabe, clearly uncomfortable, only smiled at him and replied,

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord." The Doctor smiled grimly at her and began his race to the other side of the room. He had managed to clear the first fan but the temperature was rising too high for Jabe and her hands began to smoke. The Doctor noticed that the fans had sped up a little and he heard Jabe cry out in pain. She was starting to catch fire and there was nothing the Doctor could do now to save her.

Back in Gallery 15, Rose was a mess of fright, the shields were malfunctioning and she didn't completely understand what was going on, but she knew a cracking window when she saw it. And cracking windows where obviously a bad thing in the space. Rose was paralyzed with fear and unlike before, now that she was truly alone without even someone on the other ride of the door to focus on, her mind was blank and all she could focus on was trying to keep breathing and keep from being fried. Screaming she maneuvered from side to side on the ground and jumping from fear every time a blast of sunlight managed to break through near her.

**"**Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical." Blared the computer. The Doctor timed his run and managed to pass the second fan, but Jabe had now let go of the lever and the fans were now turning too fast to even see. The Time Lord looked back at Jabe who was being consumed by flames. He turned his head away he could not look any more and focused on the next fan, he could still save the others. But the third was so fast that there was no way anyone, but a Time Lord, could make it through without being diced to bits. The Doctor shut his eyes and using his Time Lord abilities, timed his walk and made it past the fan unharmed. Realizing he was fine, he heard the Computer announced the final countdown to the Earth's death and on 'five', he managed to grip the reset switch, pulled it and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Raise shields!" The system reset just in time and was shielding was back up on one. The Earth then was destroyed by the Sun, but no one was looking.

****Back in the smaller gallery Rose had opened her eyes. She had closed then when the sunlight had become too much for her. But now that she had them open she was now watching, with a sigh of relief, as the Exoglass that had been cracking and breaking open, repaired itself. She was safe she told herself as she raggedly breathed in air. She looked out the window but instead of her planet was giant broken up pieces of rock which were all that remained of her home planet. Rose got off her feet and found that the door was repairing itself too. And to her wonder, it easily granted her exit. Somewhat in a daze she made her way to the main gallery and saw the destruction the other guest had suffered, It looked like some of the guest had not made it but she was barely registering anything as it was. She saw the Doctor enter the room with a grimmer than normal look on his face. She didn't know what she was expecting of him but he walked right past her to the two trees that had been with Jabe.

The Doctor relayed the bad news to the other two trees and tried his best to offer comfort to the devastated beings. Jabe had died for him, she had sacrificed herself to save not only him and Rose, but everyone of those uptight fake socialites who had been cowering in the observation gallery. It might not have been passing fancy at all, Jabe had known the risks and she had thought that he was worth it. Either way they had to try to save themselves, but she didn't have to help and most likely she genuinely had cared for him in just the short time they had met. Why did the Doctor never realized how people felt until it was too late? He asked himself this, but the Doctor was still to oblivious to realize that those same thoughts could probably be applied to Rose too.

"You all right?" Asked Rose, easily sensing the terrible fury coming off her husband. It wasn't something to take lightly and she was glad not to be on the receiving end of it, not that she ever thought that she would be. No more mister nice Time Lord, he would act and he would do so without mercy. He was angry, not only had this trampoline killed Jabe and tried to kill the other guests. She had also specifically singled out Rose and tried to vaporize her using the Sun as a weapon. He would have blood for this. She would not get away with it. The soldier in him took over and he began to rant.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby." He then smashed the ostrich egg Cassandra had brought to the gathering to reveal a small device that must be the feed. The Doctor continued,

"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." And to Rose's amazement Cassandra, by herself, appeared out of thin air. She had been gloating to someone, but now had realized that she was back in the Gallery and it was quite obviously not destroyed by the Earth exploding.

"The last human." Said the Doctor with disgust. The Skin saw that she was now in a tight spot and began to ramble excuses to literally save her skin.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club." She gasped, the Doctor was not happy and shouted,

"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." Cassandra seized her chance at the mention of murder and went into legal mode,

"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter…" said the skin in a hoity voice.

"And creak?" interrupted the Doctor. The skin questioned what he had said and the Doctor more than willingly confirmed for her that she was indeed creaking and drying out.

"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" shrieked the skin.

"You raised the temperature." Said the Doctor, confirming that her current condition couldn't be helped.

"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything." Begged Cassandra, but the Time Lord had no pity for this murdering excuse of life. He simply watched with grim satisfaction waiting for the inevitable. Rose came up to the Doctor side and placed her hand on his arm.

"Help her." Said Rose who still had pity for the 'human'. The Doctor did not oblige, in fact, having Rose there only reminded him of what Cassandra and her goons had tried to do to Rose and would have done if he hadn't succeeded in stopping the disaster. He just coldly replied without turning his head away from Cassandra,

"Everything has its time and everything dies." Rose was taken aback by the Doctor's coldness and looked on as Cassandra cried out that she was too young to die. A few moments later Cassandra was all dried out and splattered across the room. He then stormed off to help the other guests and attendants prepare to leave the Earth behind them. Rose watched him go and didn't know what to do with herself. Her feet just gravitated toward the large window of the gallery as the guests left the room. She only noticed the Face of Boe give a look of apology, but also a somewhat knowing look, before leaving with the rest. Rose directed her attention back to the molten rocks that where once her home planet. She didn't know how long she stared at it but eventually Rose and the Doctor were the only ones left on the platform. The Doctor came through the great doors behind her and made his presence known to her. Rose in the most humbled and saddened voice said,

"The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just …" She couldn't finish her sentence. The Doctor then held out his callus hand to Rose and gently said,

"Come with me." Rose took his hand and allowed herself to be led by him, but she couldn't help but take one last mournful look at the remains of the Earth before leaving the room. The two then walked down the corridor to where the TARDIS waited for them.

As far as the Doctor was concerned, Rose had passed her test with flying colors, she had even earned unexpected extra credit for facing death twice. He had wanted her to identify with him, as cruel as it probably was, he wanted her to understand his pain. Losing your home; now she could better understand him and what he had been through. He trusted that now she could see how he thought and why and how he acted as he did. He didn't know what emotional turmoil he had originally had in store for her, or even if he had thought this through from every angle, but he had never meant to hurt her. Whatever that definition of hurt was in his head, he had not meant for her to go through all this. He just wanted to give her the tools to comprehend him or at least come closer to it than anyone else at present in the universe. Now all that was left was for her to make her final decision.

The TARDIS had landed off of a busy street in London and Rose opened the door to the TARDIS and hesitantly stepped out. The Doctor followed close behind watching her as she made her way to the crowded street up ahead. Rose couldn't believe it, the Earth it was back. She had seen it destroyed and now she was standing on it and it was bustling with life. People were walking about, making noise and going about their business. It was almost like seeing the Earth's ghost, she was walking among ghosts, and she would never look at the world the same way again. Nothing was certain, nothing was forever and the most solid looking of things would come to an end. The Doctor then piped up as if he could read her thoughts and said,

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor raised his eyes to the sky and so did Rose. He starred at the alien blue color of Earth sky and found himself longing for the sky that was orange. And that's when he finally opened up to her and revealed his most painful truth.

"My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust… before it's time." Rose looked on with surprise. She was amazed that he had actually freely given information about himself when he was so reluctant earlier to do so. She knew that if was painful information, but she had not fathomed such disturbing and utterly sad information. She wanted to hold his head but she was still timid to touch him, especially now that he had opened up to her, and instead in a sympathetic voice she asked,

"What happened?" she question wanting to know so badly.

"There was a war and we lost." He said simply.

"A war with who?" inquired Rose, but the Doctor did not answer. Sensing that that topic might still be too painful, she switched the question after clearing her throat.

"What about your people?" she asked, her concern growing.

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else." 'That's why he's lonely.' Her heart ached in pain at his sorrow. She wanted to give him comfort, to let him know that he wasn't alone anymore, and she quickly breathed out,

"There's me." She didn't want him to doubt it. And he wanted to believe it, there was just one more question to go.

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" Rose actually now gave herself a moment to process all the life threatening danger she had just survived on their first trip. She was confused, the rational survival part of her brain now told her to runaway, but the rest, her heart, her soul told 'Do not leave this man, it is all worth it!' So what part of her did she believe? Overwhelmed, her mind raced and she began to ramble on about what she wanted,

"I don't know. I want." Her confusing emotions and thoughts were then interrupted by the nearby smell of her favorite food on Earth. She took in a deep breath through her nose and declared,

"Oh, can you smell chips?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Smirked the Doctor, he knew how much she loved chips, it was their first date after all.

"I want chips." Announced Rose to the Doctor. The Doctor's manic grin couldn't get any wider and he answered,

"Me too." Grinned the Doctor. Rose was once again calm and in control of herself. She had a goal to achieve and her man by her side to help. She would stay with him.

"Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay." Smiled Rose with her tongue poking out from between her teeth. The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and simply stated,

"No money." Rose rolled her eyes, looks like some things don't change, once again she would be the one to spring for chips as they got to know each other. Teasingly, Rose said,

"What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are, once again, on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close." The Doctor smiled back at Rose, he guessed that a chips run would indeed be their 'second first date' too. The universe's oddest couple then walked down the street, hand and hand, to go out for chips.

**Author's Note:**  
Wow, that's two episodes down from the original series. Are you ready for the Unquiet dead? Amazing how Rose's path, even though she decided to work at a bookstore instead of a clothing store, she still ended up crossing the Doctor's, heh. And having to analyze these episodes when I re-watch them really helps me get into the characters' head, but it also slows down production, but I think it makes for better chapters. Don't you?


	17. Chapter 17

**Complicated **

by The Plot Thinens

**The Unquiet Dead - Chapter 17**

_**Intermission**_  
Rose's eyes fluttered open. She had been woken up from sleep by yet again the soft artificial daylight that the TARDIS used as Rose's alarm clock. She wanted to roll back over and go back to her pleasant dreams. However, any attempt was stopped by the TARDIS's gentle nudges in the back of her mind. It was almost like that feeling of your mother softly waking you up for school and Rose was no match for it. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Through half lidded eyes she looked to the other side of the bed, it was empty. And it had remained so for yet another night. Traditionally that had been John's designated side of any bed they had slept in for the last few months. Though not anymore. She was hopeful that one day it might be the place her husband, the Doctor would sleep again. But then she reminded herself that he didn't sleep like a human and it would be unfair to make him sit bored in that bed just to humor her human biological need for sleep anyway. Though if he'd just let things happen she could do her best to make sure he wasn't bored in it for a little while each night. Sleeping alone from now on she knew would get easier as she got used to it again, after all she spent most of her life sleeping alone. Who wouldn't like having a bed this big all to themselves? It just meant more room to stretch out without bumping into someone else. And she wished she could do a better job fooling herself faster of that. Sighing she went about her morning routine and grumbled out the door to the kitchen in mild frustration. However any negative thoughts she might have been harboring instantly faded away the moment she spotted the Doctor in the kitchen.

The Doctor, ever the morning person, because he never really actually slept, was of course up and shuffling about in the kitchen. He was quite clearly excited about the day and his excitement was cute and infectious. His energy levels had not changed when he had been John at all she had noticed, in fact she had always wondered how a man twenty years her senior had so much energy. Sometimes he had more energy than she did and part of her had always wished that she had been old enough to catch him when he was younger just to see if he had been even more energetic as a young man. Rose's train of thought was derailed by a mug being thrust into her hands. 'It was tea. He made a cup of tea for me. That was bordering on domestic.' Thought Rose astonished. It was probably about as domestic as he got though, unlike John, he didn't seem the type to bring you breakfast in bed, but still it was an appreciated gesture of friendship at the very least.

"Come on, come on. It's an extra strong batch, got ta get those stimulants pumping through those veins of yours. We got an early day ahead of us and we need that human brain of yours wide awake." Declared the Doctor as he buttered some toast at the counter. Okay so he had a motive, but still it was a relatively nice gesture. Or more likely the Doctor was just getting bored of waiting for his companion, whose species slept a third of the day, to get up and moving so that they could get onto the next adventure.

In truth the Doctor was trying, in his own way, to be nicer to her, he knew the tea was a token gesture at best. The biggest obstacle that he faced was his inability to stop going back to his comfort zone by distancing Rose with backhanded comments to accompany any action that could be seen as domestic. He had honestly had a good time eating chips with the love of his former human life. 'Even if it was a very domestic thing to do.' Countered the Doctor in his head. There he went again, even making backhanded comments to thoughts in his very big head. The Chippy was frankly the best one the Doctor had ever been in, and he said so to the waitress, there was a wide variety of chips to be had with various toppings and of course fresh battered cod for a shot of protein to go with the meal. If one dare called it a date, it was an excellent place to go for a second first date. It had been a great time with only one hitch, when they were leaving the chippy's manager had smiled and asked The Doctor and his lovely daughter to please come back again. The Doctor had been flustered by the comment, but Rose, who obviously had for some time been accustomed to this sort of mistake, very proudly flashed her wedding ring, ringed her arm around the Doctor's, and told him that she and her husband would love to come back again if they were in the neighborhood. Her attitude and unquestionable pride in telling all that an ugly old git like him was her mate had made the Doctor feel something, he wasn't sure what yet but it was definitely a good feeling. He thought for sure that she probably was going to shy away and hurry them out the door in embarrassment, but she wanted all to know that this was the man she had chosen, and nothing to be ashamed of. So even though he wasn't ready to do the same yet, in spite of himself, when he knew Rose wasn't looking, he smiled his manic grin in triumph to the manager who still was looking on in disbelief. Well that had actually turned out to be an alright memory for the ego of a 900 and some odd years old Time Lord anyway, but enough memory lane. They had a fully functional time machine and the Doctor wanted to show Rose that the TARDIS could go back in time and not just to the future or her present.

_**Back to the Story**_

The TARDIS jumped and jerked about in the vortex in what could only be described as time turbulence. Inside the TARDIS two individuals, who were technically-still-married, clung to the TARDIS console. In between violent shakes the Doctor would yelp instructions to Rose to help assist in flying the TARDIS. This was so new to her and she had no idea what did what or why the Doctor wanted her to pull, push, or press whatever control was on the console. She just did it without question and prayed that she did it right and that it worked.

"Hold that one down!" Called out the Doctor, pointing to the unnamed control. Rose a bit annoyed at being asked to do so many tasks at once, especially when so many of the controls were spaced so far apart, barked back,

"I'm holding this one down." How could she hold the other one down too?

"Well, hold them both down." Rose was very miffed by her husband's complicated demands but still was excited by the whole process.  
"It's not going to work." Bellowed Rose in frustration as she tried to stretch herself across the console to the switch the Doctor wanted her to pull. With some impressive maneuvering Rose managed to pull off the Doctor's task and he poked his head around the time rotor to look her in the eye. Affronted by her discouraging remark he retorted in mock seriousness,

"Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" The Doctor bounced around the console some more working his magic and his energy was catching. Rose couldn't help but smile. She was confused though as to why he was so set on that particular date. Her curiosity peeked and even though she was very occupied with navigation controls from her crouched position over the console, she had to ask,

"What happened in 1860?" She was very curious as to that dates' significance to him, which is what made it all the more adventurous and exciting when he answered,

"I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!" The TARDIS spun, shook and the two time travelers were on their way to 1860.

The TARDIS materialized at the end of an old snowy cobble stone street. The perception filter made it completely unnoticeable to the surrounding population. Inside the TARDIS, its two inhabitants were lying in a heap on the floor. It was a rough landing to say the least but it seemed that despite the fact that they were on opposite sides of the TARDIS, The Doctor had somehow managed to cushion Rose's landing and she found herself resting on top of him. The two were laughing hysterically at their 'successful and difficult landing' that was until they realized their positions. They began to blush as Rose tried to push herself off the Doctor, but this didn't do much to help the color of their faces go back to normal, as now Rose was straddling his stomach. They locked eyes and the Doctor was the first to alleviate the situation, if he didn't make the first move to stop this complicated form of contact he might do something he wasn't ready for. He partly lifted her up by her hips and managed to roll out from under her. Before Rose could even register the fact that he had had both is hands on her hips, The Doctor was helping her up.

"Blimey!" declared Rose as she took the Doctor's hand and got off the floor with a bounce. The two appeared to have unanimously and silently agreed to pretend that that didn't happen, and just kept on joking. The Doctor ran over to the monitor on the console and began to study it.

"You're telling me. Are you all right?" Asked the Doctor.

"Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken. Did we make it? Where are we?" Stated Rose as she bounced over to his side. The Doctor quite proud of himself crossed his arms, stood up tall and giggled,

"I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860."

"That's so weird. It's Christmas." Said Rose in shock. It was so amazing. He could have Christmas everyday if he wanted, this incredible man who, by the way through a series of unusual events was now her somewhat reluctant spouse.

"All yours." Declared the Doctor with pride as he stretched out his arm to the door. Rose lowered her head in disbelief. He was offering time and space as if it was a trip to the convenience store. No words could describe her emotions or thoughts, but she had to give it a try at least.

"But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still." Smiled Rose with her tongue poking a bit out of the side of her mouth and through her teeth.

"Not a bad life." Stated the Doctor as a fact. Rose smiled up into his eyes with admiration. Sure he was a bit of a git from time to time, but he really was a fantastic being. Adventures like this she could easily get used to. But no matter how wonderful, by yourself, she could see it being a lonely life. Maybe that was what Jack was talking about earlier. He needed someone to keep him company and she would be the one to do it, so she had no trouble saying with all her single heart,  
"Better with two. Come on, then." She was excited to get this adventure rolling and all but skipped to the door. Her giggling was interrupted however by the Doctor's loud but unthreatening voice,

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Rose thinking that he was in a teasing mood, swung around and grinning she said still almost unable to believe her own words,

"1860." The Doctor was more than amused by response and her enthusiasm but her 21st century mind was taking her form of dress for granted. No matter how low a profile or how easy it was for them to blend in with the normal Time Lord-ish looking population, that outfit would never go unnoticed.

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!" Rose looked a bit confused by the elaborate instructions but ran off to follow them anyway, hoping her memory would not fail her.

Rose managed to find the before mentioned wardrobe and WOW was it amazing. She didn't know how she would find anything in such a huge room, more like atrium. It would almost put Narnia to shame. Fortunately, she was amazed by not only how big it was but how organized. The TARDIS made it so easy to find the appropriate clothing for the time and place that a child could have done it.

Rose found a lovely black dress and scarf to put around her neck. She guessed that the TARDIS didn't want her catching cold since the dress left most of the top of her chest bare to the elements. Was this really period appropriate? Perhaps the TARDIS was taking some liberties, when she thought of Victorian Era England, she always pictured prim and proper ladies with every inch of skin covered up from public eye and even private. But she liked the dress and trusted the Time Traveling ship to get it right. The heeled shoes were even perfectly sized and comfortable. The Blond looked into one of the many full bodied mirrors and did her hair up in the manner she felt was period appropriate from the supplies the TARDIS provided her to use from the large vanity. Her mother was a hair dresser after all and she had picked up a few things about styling hair over the years. However, she couldn't help but feel that something was giving her hints on just how her hair should be done up in her mind.

In the back of her head she hoped that the Doctor would like it. She knew John's tastes pretty well, but the Doctor's was completely unknown. What did Time Lord's like to see women wear anyway? Well she decided not to dwell on it. She liked how she looked and if the Doctor didn't, well, he'd have to just get use it. Besides how could one not look good in 1800s period clothing? It was so proper to begin with. Though she'd be lying if she wasn't a little nervous at what a reception she would receive from the Doctor and the people of 1860. She took a deep breath and started to walk back to the console room.

The Doctor busily tinkered about under the console, fixing this and calibrating that as he waited for Rose to immerge. He worked about with his sonic screwdriver checking for any problems attributed to the rough landing. 'How long did it take Earth female's to dress?' he wondered. He wasn't impatient, he just wondered if Rose found the wardrobe alright. And if she did, was she finding what she needed to get dressed okay? 'Maybe I should have gone to help her dress.' The Doctor found himself blushing at the thought of Rose dressing or rather undressing. He didn't know why. She was just a human. He'd seen tons of humans naked before, he'd seen them before they had even invented clothing. He'd even seen Rose naked before, well John had. The Doctor somewhat unwillingly accessed that part of his memories as John and thought back to the many times he had seen her in all states of dress and undress. He cracked a small smile, but then remembered himself and with a start he accidently dropped his sonic hard on the metal grating. He hissed with worry and picked it up and with an appraising look he gave it a once over. It flickered a few times but got right back to working good as new, and he continued to tinker. It was at that moment that Rose made her appearance.

The Doctor's attentions were pulled away from the console by the swoosh of a dress and the heeled shoe of a very feminine leg. He raised his head up higher and was taken aback by the vision of loveliness before him.

"Blimey!" said the Doctor looking up in awe of his technically-still-his-wife. Rose took his shock as teasing amusement and smirked at him half seriously,

"Don't laugh."

"You look beautiful." He mouthed out with an adoring look on his face and never speaking truer words. And this lovely creature was his wife, he thought. But then he realized what he had said aloud and needed to recover somehow. He couldn't let on any emotion; it might imply things about their relationship to Rose. Things that he either was not ready for or never would be and it would be cruel to get her hopes up. So he turned his head and with a look and voice that screamed indifference he said,

"Considering." He then went back to working on the TARDIS. Rose looked confused by his sudden unusual comment, he had been paying her a compliment, right? She then wondered what condition despite its presence still allowed her to be 'beautiful, considering in his eyes'.

"Considering what?" she asked.

"That you're human." Answered the Doctor ever indifferent.

"I think that's a compliment." Definitely a backhanded compliment. She'd be kidding herself if she didn't think that hurt. Did he really not find humans attractive to look at? If that was the case then she had yet another disadvantage to deal with. But he looked so much like a human himself, unless it was some tiny difference that even she couldn't see without superior biology or Time Lord females didn't look human. She would try not to take it too much to heart, they were beginning their relationship again. If she would make him love her again, then it would happen, in spite of their 'mixed species marriage'. For now it was enough that he could admit that she was, in some form, beautiful to him. She just hoped that he wasn't assigning her the same kind of beauty you might admire and see in a cheetah seen on safari.

"Aren't you going to change?" she asked the Doctor, trying to move on the conversation. She also would have really liked to see the Doctor dressed as a 1860s gentleman would. 'He'd look quite dashing in a top hat and high collar,' she thought. Or at least that's what she thought men wore in 1860. Much to her disappointment he replied,

"I've changed my jumper. Come on." Rose felted cheated but stopped the Doctor and grinned at him as he tried to walk ahead of her. She lifted up her skirt slightly above her ankles with one hand, to ease the process of running, and raced over to the TARDIS door. She wanted to be the first one out the door to a time long gone, now that she fully understood how this process worked.

"You stay there. You've done this before. This is mine." The TARDIS Door opened and Rose took a hesitant look outside the door. It was snowing! With all the wonder of a child she slowly pressed her foot into the crunching snow. It was real, she was in Naples in 1860 on Christmas Eve! 'Did it snow in Naples? Well obviously it did.' Pondered Rose to herself. Rose took a few steps out of the TARDIS still reveling in the crunching snow when the Doctor stepped outside to join her. He locked the TARDIS door. He was beaming from Rose's infectious enthusiasm and offered his arm to his lovely technically-still-his-wife. Rose eagerly took his arm and was in euphoria from the sensation of being so close to him again and by the fact that he had again initiated the touch.

"Ready for this? Here we go. History." Smiled the Doctor in comradery and the two time-traveling explorers were off down the street.

At a glance they would seem to be just a regular couple making merry on the streets on Christmas Eve. 'But what would people say if they knew the truth?' smiled Rose to herself as she enjoyed the novelty of everything. People were milling about doing their normal business, probably somewhat boring to them, despite the holiday bustling. To Rose everything was new even though it was old. It was like having a back lot pass to some Christmas Carol movie production. Rose's outfit was surprisingly warmer than she thought it would be against the cold but her chest was still a little exposed to the elements.

Every time a cold wind would blow she would hide her face and chest against the Doctors arm and to the best of her knowledge he wasn't protesting. Rose thought that he was just being polite, The Doctor had done everything to convince her of his indifference and having been reinforced she couldn't have possibly thought that he was enjoying the contact. It was also probably appropriate for her to be on his arm in this time period. Not that she minded, she'd gladly show off her handsome Time Lord husband off as arm candy to any 1860s woman. Little did Rose know that the Doctor was enjoying every minute of it, he was walking down this 1860s street with easily the loveliest and most likely healthiest-looking woman around. Not only that but her curiosity and wonder, that often was jaded to him, would be renewed by simply watching her. She was adorable but not in a childish way. The Doctor secretly was wishing for more gusts of wind so that he could hear her cute squeaks and enjoy the feeling of her pressing up against his arm for protection from the cold. He would be willing to protect her from a lot more than just wind if he had to. Fortunately, with her safely locked to his arm he was in the perfect position to assure her safety.

While Rose's attentions were fixed on a choir of Christmas carolers across the street or passing elegant horse drawn carriages, The Doctor would steal glances at her and smile. Maybe his human self wasn't so batty after all, he really did enjoy being with her, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. The two then continued on past a theater unaware that behind them, carting up the street and in complete contrast to the warm holiday cheer was a hearse pulled by two black stallions. Little did the Doctor and Rose know that its two occupants before this night was over, these two undertakers would be very much involved in their Christmas Eve adventure.

The Doctor even as he had stepped out of the TARDIS could taste that something was off about their destination. Though to be honest, he was a bit distracted by the pleasant company. Rose's outfit looked amazing on her and really accented her proportions, especially the bodice. Though completely above that sort of thing, or so he had convinced himself, the Doctor had to admit that her physical proportions were very pleasing to the eye from his angle looking down on her. The Doctor then reminded himself that he should be focused on leading Rose down the street and not on Rose herself. Well many be he could divide the time up a little.

Now that they had strolled a bit around and were looking for activities, the Time Lord thought it would be best to check in on things and make sure they were in the right time and place. An old man on the corner, across from the theater they had just been in front of, was loudly calling out about the latest news. A newspaper. That would be the best way to confirm the date and see if anything interesting was to be done around town. He could catch in a show with his lovely 'date' or get out of the cold and into a warm locally recommended restaurant. It would be nice to treat Rose to the finest food that 1860 had to offer that was fit for a Time Lord and his wife...er… companion. 'Careless slip ups, I must be getting old' he thought to himself. The Doctor fished into his very deep pockets for a few moments and managed to pull out the needed sum to buy the periodical. Thank goodness he always had some money handy that he picked up now and again. Though not always for the time period he needed or even planet, but in this case he was lucky, Rose couldn't bail him out this time. Rose followed merrily alongside the Doctor as he brought the paper to his face. He looked to the top of the paper and much to his annoyance he realized that he had gotten quite a few things mucked up about their destination. Would he ever be able to impress this human the way he wanted to with no snags along the way?

"I got the flight a bit wrong." Groaned the Doctor, but Rose still high on cloud nine, replied,

"I don't care." To emphasize the mistake the Doctor retorted,

"It's not 1860, it's 1869." Again Rose was unconcerned; it didn't matter to her if they were nine years off.

"I don't care." She sang. They could be 1869 or 1896 and the novelty of time travel would still be there, besides all she cared about was the company she was keeping.

"And it's not Naples. It's Cardiff." Rose stopped dead in her tracks, being in England's American equivalent of New Jersey was a bit of a disappointment from thinking you were in Italy, that would explain the snow though. She shook it off and ran after the Doctor who had gotten a few steps in front of her as he read over the news. 'Cardiff could still be fun and possibly romantic, yeah?' thought Rose to herself. She wanted to ask what their next move was to be now that they knew that they were in Cardiff. But that was when the Doctor and Rose heard screams from inside the local theater and the Doctor became as happy as a kid on Christmas morning. Time for the adventure to start!

"That's more like it!" he shouted and ran for the entrance to the theater, all the while smiling like a maniac.

**Author's Notes:** If there are any New Jersey folk among my readers, I send my dearest apologizes, but it was the only analogy I could think of in describing Cardiff to Americans if they aren't familiar with the geography and stigma. Again sorry, New Jersey really is a nice place with Talking Huskies and everything. Okay disclaimers aside, someone keeps asking me for sneak previews of the titles of the next chapters a lot so I'm just going to name them from here on. The title of the next chapter is, **Let's go a'body snatchin'.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Complicated **

by The Plot Thinens

**Let's go a'body snatchin'- Chapter 18**

Getting into the theater was easier said than done for the two time-travelers. People were running higgledy-piggledy all about in formal dresses and high hats pushing toward every exit while The Doctor and Rose were trying to head toward the stage. However, already inside and ahead of them, were the two undertakers who had curiously stopped in front of the theater earlier. Oddly enough they were looking for a runaway stiff who had escaped from their care. Alerted by the screams they had dashed in hoping to minimize the attention that a walking corpse could bring on them and their establishment. The one leading the assault was a small uptight-looking elderly man, dressed all in black with a top hat on his head and bushy grey mutton chops on his face. His companion, who was following reluctantly close behind, was a nervous, frail-looking thing of a young woman who from her countenance probably felt like she was committing a great blasphemy by engaging in their mission at all.

At first the two undertakers had been held back from their 'charge', but now that the crowd had thinned out they could easily spot their target, the dead woman's corpse that got away from them. With as much speed as they could move through the narrow aisles of the theater they began to close in like grim reapers to collect her. They had to hurry before the police arrived.

Finally the Doctor managed to get inside along with Rose only to see a blue vaporous entity screaming about flying over their heads. It was loud, it was see-through, and it was scaring the 1860s denizens out of their minds. The time travelers had arrived too late to see that the creature appeared to have come out of a deathly pale looking woman, dressed all in black, who was standing screaming in the emptying seats. They did notice that whatever it was seemed to have an interest in her though. A well dressed bearded man on stage however had seen the whole thing and logically was trying unsuccessfully to return order to the room, insisting that it was a trick and merely a lantern show.

"Fantastic." Smiled the Doctor at the sight of the blue entity. And ran over to question the man on stage. It was then that the old woman stopped screaming along with the blue being, and closed her eyes shut before quietly returning back to her natural state of death and slumped down over the seats.

"Did you see where it came from?" asked the Doctor looking up at the man as the blue being screamed about the ceiling. The bearded man was not amused and assumed that this oddly dressed man was to blame for this amazing but business strangling prank and hissed,

"Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!" The nervous woman and the older man had now reached the dead woman and were beginning to as discreetly as possible carry the dead woman away. The collapsing woman had not gone unnoticed to Rose, who saw the two strangers pick her up and steal her away.

"Oi! Leave her alone! Doctor, I'll get them." She shouted at the two strangers and then to the Doctor, before racing after them. Having seen that they had been noticed by the blond woman and dark haired man couple the two undertakers doubled their efforts to carry the corpse out of the theater. Rose couldn't believe the boldness of these two kidnapping strangers. 'Who were they and why were they manhandling her so roughly out of the theater after such a traumatic event?' asked Rose to herself. She would find out. The Doctor mildly concerned for his companion with a tendency to wander off and get into trouble shouted over the noise,

"Be careful!" The Doctor was fairly sure that Rose would be okay, she wasn't dumb after all, but best to remind her. Getting on to the task at hand he then jumped onto the stage and continued his interrogation of the bearded man.

"Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way." The man looked at the Doctor in disbelief that the oddly dressed stranger could possibly be a physician and retorted,

"Doctor? You look more like a navvie."

"What's wrong with this jumper?" Asked the Doctor incredulously, what was wrong with his taste in clothing? First Rose and now this guy, he decided not to dwell on it and get all the information he could from the stunned man.

Outside the theater Rose had managed to catch up with the two suspicious looking people loading the poor woman into the back of a hearse. They were either the most efficient, work hungry and pessimistic funeral attendants she had ever seen or they were up to no good. She ran to get to the old woman but was stopped by the nervous looking dark haired girl.

"What're you doing?!" barked Rose to the mousy girl. The young girl looked even more nervous and did her best to sound authoritative in her little voice in hopes of getting the suspicious woman to leave them alone to their grim task.

"Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary." The girl quickly squeaked out in one breath. 'That's a lot of bull and I'm not buying it!' thought Rose, she wasn't going to let them kidnap this helpless woman and, with righteous fury, she pushed past the flustered young woman to the elderly woman lying inside the cart. Rose placed her hands on the apparently unconscious woman's head only to realize that it was like touching ice. She would have had to have been dead for hours, at the least, to be this cold to the touch!

"She's cold. She's dead! Oh, my God, what'd you do to her?" questioned a horrified Rose. The girl really looked cornered now but before she could say another word the elderly man snuck up behind Rose and violently clamped an old rag over her mouth and nose. Rose tried to struggle against the attack but the man just help her closer to him and eventually Rose's strength gave out as the fumes from the chloroform forced her into unconsciousness.

"What did you do that for, Master Sneed?" Asked the girl, who had watched her master's deed in stunned horror. This was steadily escalating into something much more troublesome and possibly illegal now, besides just sinful. The old man steadied his somewhat too intimate hold on Rose's upper body and glared at his assistant with a icy look.

"She's seen too much, Gwyneth. Get her in the hearse. Legs." Ordered Sneed. The two then loaded Rose into the hearse next to the dead woman. Sneed just hoped that that man she had appeared to have been with didn't come looking for her too soon.

Inside the theater the spectacle had not yet ended. The blue thing still shot about over the Doctor's head, suddenly the thing disappeared into a gaslight fixture on the side of the balcony seats. That was when the Doctor made the connection.

"Gas! It's made of gas." Smiled the Doctor with a manic grin, he raced outside the theater to tell Rose the news and his now very brilliant plan of what to do next. He stepped outside onto the street and called out for Rose, where was she? That was when he spotted Rose's familiar blonde hair poking out of the back of the hearse across the street. To his horror he then saw the same woman from before close the body door of the hearse.

"Rose!" Shouted the Doctor as he watched the hearse then speed down the street and away with his unconscious technically-still-his-wife. 'What did they want with Rose?' thought the Doctor was he watched the deathly cart disappear into the distance. He was debating the best way to save her but was removed from his thoughts by the bearded man from earlier.

"You're not escaping me, sir. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?" Demanded the well dressed man, the Doctor had no time for bystander questions and brushed him off before hailing for the closest parked carriage he assumed was for hire.

"Oi, you! Follow that hearse!" He shouted to the carriage driver. Much to the Doctor dismay and annoyance the driver responded,

"I can't do that, sir." The Doctor now growing more desperate to get to Rose before she got herself into anymore trouble asked,

"Why not?" The bearded man had now lost his patience with the elusive oddly dressed man and taking a step into the back of the carriage shouted at the Doctor,

"I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach." 'Was that all?' thought the Doctor, if he had to bring this man along with him to rescue Rose then why not? The more the merrier, right? The Doctor grabbed the bearded man by his arm and pulled him into the plush seat next to him.

"Well, get in, then. Move!" Shouted the Doctor to the bearded man and then to the driver to get the carriage moving. As if by reflex at the sound of those words the driver gave the horses a flick of his whip and the horses were off like a shot. The Doctor was sitting at the end of the seat and shouted up to the driver impatiently,

"Come on, you're losing them." The Doctor had not a second to lose who knew what those people were capable of. The driver did not slow down but he leaned over and asked the carriage owner,

"Everything in order, Mister Dickens?" Mister Dickens began to tell the driver that things were not in order but as soon as the driver had said Dickens, the Doctor's eyes went wide with fanboy recognition, he only need confirmation and asked,

"What did he say?" 'Who did this man think he was?' asked Dickens of himself. 'This man just comes in like he owns the entire night and no rules apply to him. Seems to be involved somehow in this occurrence that wrecked my performance and now he has commandeered my carriage for who knows what reason. And we are off into the night.' Mused Dickens with fading tolerance for the Doctor's antics. It least he wasn't bored at the very least, he was being saved from a mundane evening alone on Christmas Eve, but he was being inconvenienced. Mister Dickens summoned up any goodwill he had left to spare for this odd man and declared,

"Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humor." But he was interrupted by the Doctor asking for confirmation if he was, in fact, sitting in a carriage with one of the greatest writers of all time, Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens replied the affirmative in hopes that it would finally calm the man but it did just the opposite. The Doctor began to sing his praise for all his literary gold and the driver inquired if the leather clad man needed to be removed from the carriage.

"You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. I've read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?"

"A Christmas Carol?" asked Dickens, rolling his eyes, he was sure that that was what everyone always knew him best for and nothing else.

"No, no, no, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it. Terrifying! The best short story ever written. You're a genius." Again the driver asked Dickens if he should get rid of the stranger. Charles's ego now thoroughly stroked by the Doctor answered the driver,

"Er, no, I think he can stay." The Doctor and Dickens bantered back and forth about Charles's books. Mister Dickens was at first confused by the Doctor's term of being his biggest fan, but after a quick explanation, he understood its meaning. The Doctor also entreated if he might call Mister Dickens, Charles and much to the Time Lord's delight he was told that he could. The time traveler discussed what he loved about Dickens stories and what he didn't, Charles seemed a bit miffed at the criticism though, but the Doctor seemed to give off an air that spoke that only a person who truly loved his works could also see the fault in too and forgave him for his comments.

"Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that." Declared the Doctor. Now remembering his situation and the fact that Rose was still not safely back at his side he jumped up in the carriage and shouted the driver,

"Come on, faster!" And the driver urged the horses to be quicker.

"Who exactly is in that hearse?"

"My wife." 'Damn it, slipped out so fast, why had that come out?' The Doctor asked himself. Had he just been taken off guard and recited, out of habit, what he had been use to saying for about four month now as a rubbish human? ' but now he had to roll with it. It would look too weird for this prudish lot in this day and age to claim a woman is your wife and then take that statement back a moment later. One might wonder if Rose was his 'wife for a night' or 'lady of the evening' and he currently didn't have records to prove otherwise. As great as he was a writer, Dickens might think it beneath him or too much trouble to risk attracting scandalous attention if he were found out helping some stranger chase after his preferred harlot in the dead of night from body snatchers. He couldn't risk stretching Charles's kindness any further or falling out of favor and being ejected from The Doctor's only means to not lose Rose. Plus he probably could do with some back up, again the more the merrier.

"She's only twenty, she knows nothing of the universe yet. It's my fault that she's even in this situation. She's in my care, and now she's in danger." Bellowed the Doctor to his fellow passenger. 'Well at least he seemed more level headed than most would be it such a situation or this eccentric behavior might be explained away as a form of shock at his wife being in peril,' thought Charles before declaring in a booming voice,

"Well of course she would be in your care, she's your wife, but why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!" The driver yelled the affirmative and the horses ran faster still. Charles Dickens might have an interesting Christmas after all. It was currently the most exciting thing he had done in ages felt years younger already, he'd already seen two things he couldn't explain. Who knew what else the night would bring him?

"Attaboy, Charlie." Smiled the Doctor at his idol. He was totally Earth fanboying out now that he was on first name terms with one of Earth's most famous writers. Maybe he could get his pal Charlie to sign his book collection too! The Doctor was excited but if he wasn't so star struck he might have noticed that the more scared her was getting for Rose the more manic he was acting to distract himself from those emotions. So much so that he had really begun to push his luck by trying to call Charles Dickens by a nickname term of endearment. Mister Dickens was not as accustomed to being this informal with a stranger he just met, even if that stranger was motivated in the name of a good cause. Perhaps if he could have been liquored up before hand he might have just laughed it off, gone with the flow but at the moment this was not the case.

"Nobody calls me Charlie." Scoffed Charles. The Doctor just smiled then retorted,  
"The ladies do." Dickens looked scandalized by that bit of sensitive information and inquired as to how he knew that.

"I told you, I'm your number one…" grinned the Doctor, but his sentence was interrupted by Dickens who rolled his eyes and said,

"Number one fan."

**Author's notes: Next chapter's title: Bad Gas**


	19. Chapter 19

**Complicated**

by the Plot Thinens

**Bad Gas –chapter 19**

Gwyneth and Sneed had a problem on their hand, well actually they had several problems but the newest was now deadweight and sawing lumber in their arms. They had in their attempt to cover up their walking dead conspiracy, been forced to kidnap some curious woman of fashion off the street. Judging by the clothing she wore, she was obviously a high born woman of the upper-class, not some member of the unwashed masses, so regrettably she most likely would be missed. They also knew that they had been spotted taking her away and with their luck it was most likely her chaperone who had noticed their misdeed. He was probably looking for this sleeping beauty right now which only encouraged the two kidnappers to move her out of sight faster.

Sneed was distracted by his stream of circling thoughts and accidently bumped the woman's head against the door frame leading into the back of the funeral parlor.

"Careful, Master Sneed!" remarked Gwyneth with concern. Sneed grumbled something about it being an accident and reshuffled his grip on the blond. He'd spend so much time carrying unfeeling and more accommodating corpses that he had to remind himself to be a bit more careful with this one since by no fault of her own she was still alive. 'Alive! What am I to do with a woman that's still alive?!' he asked himself, a perverted part of his head made a joke at his own expense, but the fact was that he was in enough trouble without dirty thoughts in his head.

"The poor girl's still alive, sir! What're we going to do with her?" asked Gwyneth in horror of their criminal act that she had been forced to take part in. The two undertakers carried Rose into the main chapel and laid her down on a cleared table normally used for placing coffins on for viewings. Rose dressed all in black and in a drugged sleep seemed to fit right in with the rooms two departed occupants. The elderly woman who had been the source of all this trouble was now lying peaceful in her coffin as if her night about town never happened. The guilty duo must have removed her from the hearse before taking the sleeping Rose into the house. On the opposite side of the room was another coffin but in it was a man who clearly was dead before his time. With such a stunning resemblance to the woman, even in death, one might assume that the two were related in life. This was yet another trouble for Sneed to deal with as that young man had been the dead woman's first victim. What a horrible thing to be strangled to death by your own mother you thought was dead. 'And she was dead right?' asked Sneed to himself. All of these unanswerable questions about something that should be so obvious and easy to determine was playing at the man's mind. 'The dead are dead, they aren't supposed to move! One shouldn't have to guess if they are really dead. It's dead or not dead, no in between!' circled about in his brain faster than lightning. In frustration by his own ignorance and complete lack of control of the situation he shouted at Gwyneth,

"I don't know! I didn't plan any of this, did I? It isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead."

"Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?" Implored the mousy girl as she followed her master out of the room. Her nerves were shot after living this way for so long and there was no end in sight. Little did they notice the gas lamps in the room with the corpses were flaring funny and whispering in inhuman voices.

Sneed was now completely undone and rambling desperate ideas to his maid, shooting off crazy ideas and even a suggestion of an exorcism, a cheap one. This line of thinking only came to an end at the sound of the front door knocking. A knock on their door late at night was no unusual thing, it was a funeral parlor, but Sneed wanted to take no chances that he had been followed. Before cowering away to the back of the house he hissed orders to Gwyneth to answer the door but to inform anyone at that door that they were closed for the night and not accepting business at the moment. The maid was close to caving under the pressure she was under already and didn't know how she would manage this task without giving herself away. But she feared expulsion more than anything else and for the sake of her continued employment, she straightened up, put on a fake smile and went to answer the door. But upon reaching the door, Gwyneth was ready to give the performance of a lifetime, but little did she know that the lovely lady, still alive, lying among the dead was now coming around. What Rose didn't realize was that strange blue gas was reanimating the corpse of the young man lying in the coffin behind her.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're closed." Said Gwyneth nervously to the two men at the front door, one who she recognized and acknowledged as the famous Charles Dickens, or at least that is what she would say as an excuse if he asked how she knew him, she was afraid that she was doing that sinful thing again where she just simply knew the answers. Or maybe she had just subconsciously picked up that information at the theater. She hoped that was what it really was. The other she knew as the man she had seen chasing after the woman that they currently were hiding in their parlor. She prayed that moody looking man had not been able to get a good look at her when she and Sneed had made their hasty exit earlier. Dickens and the Doctor were by no means going to believe her that this business was simply closed for the night. Everyone knew she was hiding Rose and what a ridiculous excuse, that an undertaker was closed for the night. At this outrageous response Mister Dickens's shouted in his most pompous voice possible,

"Nonsense. Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master." Gwyneth tried several times to convince the two men to leave, but with no success. The Doctor on the other hand was growing ever more frustrated and impatient with this girl. They both knew who each other were and this farce was wasting his time. This person didn't look like a killer to him, but her accomplish he wasn't so sure from what he saw of him before. The Doctor pushed ahead of Dickens and pounded on the door and roared,

"Oh come off it, you're a lousy actor! Where is Rose?!" Fueled by the Doctor's anger Dickens' piped up and shouted at her to summon her master. It was then that the Doctor noticed that the gaslight on the wall was behaving in a strange and somewhat disturbingly familiar manner and asked the girl with a knowing smirk,

"Having trouble with your gas?" The Doctor now distracted by this new mystery pushed past the scared girl for a closer inspection of the fixture. Dickens had also caught a glance of the strange gas fueled flames. The gas in this house was behaving just the same as it had in the theater he had been performing in across town. There was no way that they could be related. The gas sources could not be from the same place they were too far away from each other. And how was this gas related to the kidnappers that they had followed? Was it just coincidence?

"What the Shakespeare is going on?" demanded Dickens mystified by all the strange happenings around him.

Inside the chapel Rose was now awake and looking around her new surroundings confused. She rubbed her right temple as her body tried to fight off the lingering effect of the drug she had been unwittingly exposed to. She registered pain and her head ached like she was hung over and felt like someone had taken a 2 by 4 to her head. Although now awake enough to be aware that she was in a new place, she did not have an adequate amount of drug free senses yet to appreciate the gravity of her situation. All she knew was that she needed to stop making a habit of waking up like this. She was removed from her thoughts by the sound of moans and movement from behind her. It took her a moment to realize but it finally clicked that she was staring at a deathly pale looking man who was crawling out of a coffin, that he very much looked like he belonged in and shouldn't stray far from. He was acting almost like a zombie. It had to be a joke or a prank, she had seen a lot of weird things so far with the Doctor, but waking up in a strange room with a zombie just seemed too out there. It might just be a sick person who needed help so with a shaky voice aiming to be humorous but failing terribly she asked,

"Are you all right? You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?" As the zombie-looking man ambled closer she realized that she was not being played at. She had thought things were pranks before and that had almost gotten her killed. Fueled by self-perseveration and a powerful desire to be anywhere else, Rose jumped off the table and ran for the only door to the room. She found that just like last time the door to safety was locked and trouble was once more behind her. 'Definitely need to stop making a habit of this!' she thought grimly as she banged at the door. Her fear only increased tenfold as she began to realize when looking back at the room that there were now two zombies in the chapel with her. Where was her Doctor?!

The Doctor listened as hard as he could to the sound coming from the wall behind the gaslight he was inspecting. This was such a strange thing, it sounded like something was alive in the gas pipes. Whatever it was it was probably the answer to this whole gas mystery. While the Doctor pondered over this mystery, Rose who was mere yards away was growing more desperate with each shaky step the zombies took toward her, and finding her voice at last she screamed bloody murder to anyone who could hear her,

"Let me out! Open the door!" However, Rose feared that this time no one would hear her and every creepy zombie movie she had ever seen crawled around her brain. She didn't want to be horribly ripped apart, eaten and turned into one of those things like in the movies. If that was how being zombified really worked in this case. Fortunately her cries did not fall on deaf ears and in fact a pair of rather large ones heard his mate's frantic cry for help.

"That's her." Declared the Doctor as raced to find Rose before harm could come to her. He had gotten so distracted by the gas mystery he had, much to his guilty coconscious's dismay, temporally forgotten that Rose was still missing and not safe yet. The maid and Charles were following behind the Doctor but he didn't care at the moment, he even brushed past the man who had kidnapped Rose. All that mattered was Rose, Rose, Rose and she needed him.

"Please, please, let me out!" Shouted Rose in a last desperate plea before she was snatched from behind and gagged by cold dead fingers. Before her eyes had been tearing up, but now that she was in the putrid grasp of a zombie her guessing of what was in store for her had her all out blinded by tears. She prayed that they would just snap her neck so she would not have to endure the unspeakable pain of being eaten alive. Nor could she stand the thought of walking around like one of these things without a soul. She felt the awaited pressure on her neck but then the locked door was kicked open by a very large booted foot and through wet eyes she saw him, her hero in leather! Much to her unbridled joy, the zombies appeared to be startled by this action and loosened their grip on her. The Doctor then swiftly pulled the dead man's hand off Rose and twirled her into his waiting arms.

"I think this is my dance partner you got there." He declared to the zombies. Now that Rose's brain had registered that she was safely nestled at the Doctor's side, and not about to be eaten, she was a jumbled mess of adrenaline and hormones. The Doctor would protect her from all harm. In a slight daze of happiness, she threw her arms around her technically-still-her-husband's neck and, not caring who was present, gave him a firm and claiming kiss to his cheek and a quick amorous peck to the side of his neck as it was the only parts of his head she had access to at the moment. If she had had more time she probably would have left a mark on his neck. Later if he wanted, though she was pretty sure he wouldn't, she would reward him tenfold for that rescue in the most intimate way possible if given the opportunity. For now there were zombies to deal with. The Doctor seemed to be slightly affected by Rose's passionate gesture, but quickly focused his attentions back to the things that had tried to harm Rose.

"It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Declared Charles. The Doctor tightened his protective grip around Rose and not breaking eye contact with the two sets of dead eyes before him sternly stated,

"No, we're not. The dead are walking. Hi." The last part of his sentence was warmer and light hearted, meant to put any unease on Rose's part to rest. He needed her to know that he had control of the situation to calm her adrenaline pumping heart that with his superior Time Lord sense he could feel was pounding like a jackhammer. This single word 'Hi', managed to focus Rose's attention to the present world and she noticed the bearded man from the theater earlier among her kidnappers.

"Hi. Who's your friend?" asked Rose liking the idea of any kind of distraction from the zombies in front of her that they were currently having a standoff with.

"Charles Dickens." Answered the Doctor back as if it were nothing. Rose, was in shock at the dropping of such a famous name, but decided that with zombies standing in front of them and all that she had been through tonight, to just go with the flow and not question it. After all it was not at all unlikely to run into a 1800s man in the 1800s, and if there were something or someone odd or extraordinary to find she was sure that the Doctor would locate them.

"Okay." She answered though it was still unbelievable. The Doctor stared at the deathly blue corpses, sizing them up and finally addressed them,

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" The male zombie then spoke but not with what sounded like one voice but several different voices at once and eerily childlike,

"Failing. Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us!" Having exhausted their energy, whatever these gas beings were had left the two bodies which fell to the floor back into their natural state. While Rose and the other humans stared in disgusted horror, the Doctor's mind was analyzing what he had just saw and deciding what the next step to take was.

Gwyneth nervously poured tea for the various guests in the small personal parlor of Mister Sneed. Rose was not happy at all. Having safely removed themselves for now from the threat of reanimated corpses, Rose was all but happy to reprimand and bodily threaten her kidnappers. Rose stomped about in the parlor fuming and had even gone as far as to pick up the room's fireplace iron poker to brandish at Sneed for affect. She was very much her mother's daughter at the moment. The Doctor was also very angry at the danger this tiny little human had put 'his Rose' into, but he couldn't help but smile at the sight of a flustered and angry Rose, especially when said anger was not directed at him. 'Wait a minute. Did I just call her 'my Rose'?' Asked the Doctor of himself. This put him in a slightly vexed mood as he watched on from his spot besides the fire place as Rose continued to give this man's ear a deserved beating.

"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man." Roared Rose at the man sitting in a plush chair by the fire. At this information the Doctor's eyes went as cold as dry ice and glared into the back of Sneed's head. 'No one feels up my Rose!' he growled to himself. Yet another slip up but this time it went unnoticed by the Doctor as he shot daggers at Sneed. The cowardly man scratched the back of his head as if he could feel the Doctor's eye burrowing through his skin. If the Doctor wasn't so concerned about getting information out of this pathetic little man he might have been tempted to teach the man to keep his hands to himself. Unfortunately, they needed the undertaker awake and talking so any lessons would have to wait.

In a voice that screamed indignant and in an obvious sense of being better than his accuser the man grumbled to Rose,

"I won't be spoken to like this!" But Rose would have none of his posturing. She was seriously peeved and faintly annoyed that the Doctor wasn't the one shouting this man's ears off for what she had been through. Not that she needed him to but some outrage would be nice. The Doctor was actually angry enough to do so for her, but Rose was already doing such a great job, he thought that it would be rude to interrupt her. Plus if he unleashed his true fury at this man for endangering Rose, the chap might die of fright and then they would never get any information from him. And he wasn't going to count on Sneed coming back from the dead to chat them up. The Doctor had remained relatively cool so far and to Rose's observations, at least, seemed to be content to be an alien observer of the apes. Irritated she shouted to the little twit,

"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!" Sneed was tired of being accused of having anything to do with something he neither controlled nor even wanted anything to do with in the first place. So in a last attempt to make the simpletons understand his situation he shouted out to the girl and the room,

"It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs!.." Noticing that his language in regards to the dead might be viewed as too harsh to his audience he amended that statement and in a gentler voice corrected,  
"The er, dear departed started getting restless." Dickens who had been listening to the whole spectacle from a chair across the room scoffed at the crazy man's insinuation. Sneed merely argued his point more firmly that he was powerless to keep the dead in his house from stirring.

Sneed proceeded to go into more elaborate detail and stories of departed "customers" walking about when they should be laying in coffins but the Doctor found himself distracted by Gwyneth handing him a cup of tea with two sugars, just as he liked it. Now that was a curious thing, thought the Doctor. It was almost as if she was reading his mind, and that was when he raised his eyes in realization. From the other side of the room Dickens continued to spout denials of what he had seen with his own eyes, and his closed mind annoyed the Doctor. So much was the Doctor exasperated that even though he idolized the Earthling writer he felt compelled to shout at him,

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up." Having silenced and somewhat humiliated the writer, the Doctor then turned his attentions back to Sneed and the problem at hand.

"What about the gas?" asked the Doctor of Sneed.

"That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that." Replied the undertaker obediently, as if finally having someone to tell all this information to was relieving.

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through." Announced the Doctor, and of course the Doctor was once more reciting information obvious to him but not anyone else in the room. Once more, in a confused fashion, Rose felt obligated to ask a question of her husband,

"What's the rift?" Happy that someone was asking the right questions, and not surprised that it was Rose doing the asking, The Doctor replied,

"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." Not knowing how else to respond Rose simply nodded her head, but Sneed piped up,

"That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations." Dickens was having none of these foolish stories and nonsense about ghosts. He had already been humiliated by The Doctor and he wasn't about to sit there and eat up all this ridiculous information that everyone in the room was talking as seriously about as if they were discussing the politics of today. He got up and stormed out of the room to unmask all these claims for the trickery they were. Sneed although taken by surprise at Dickens's sudden departure from the room merely continued his explanation to the Doctor and Rose,

"Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine."

The Doctor having heard all he needed from Sneed was now worried about Dickens, perhaps he had been a bit too harsh. Although the Doctor felt that his chastising had been completely in the right he still didn't want to leave Dickens upset. He was clearly just having trouble as any ape did at first when accepting that the world was much bigger and more wonderful than they had previously thought. Sure he wasn't catching on as fast as Rose had but every human was different, even the genius ones. Dickens would be a great ally to have fully on board for this little adventure. But he clearly needed some comforting and convincing first and The Doctor was just the Time Lord for the job. Set on his mission The Doctor went off after Charles Dickens to talk, leaving Rose once again alone with her two kidnappers.

Sneed smiled nervously at Rose who scowled back at him. She wasn't going to let him think for one minute that he could relax around her. One wrong move and she would be at his throat like a wolf. Gwyneth flustered as ever noticed that there was nothing really left for her to do in the room. Grateful that her task was done she made her way to the back of the house to busy her mind with some chores. Rose however felt too disgusted by the pathetic little man to stay in a room with him longer than needed and decided to follow Gwyneth to the cupboard until the Doctor got back. The Girl did not cross her as the mastermind of her recent abduction and Rose found it easier to forgive her. Her nervous presence made her more an object to be pitied than hated. She was just an innocent girl caught up in sometime too big for her stubborn employer to acknowledge he couldn't handle. Gwyneth also seemed worth having a talking to over Sneed any day and Rose couldn't help but feel that the young girl gave off an air of knowing more then she was saying about a lot of things.

**Author's note:**

Sorry for the delay folks, I've been a little busy lately. I've only proofed it once, but I wanted to get something out for you guys to read. I hope there aren't too many typos that I have missed. The next chapter is called, Girl talk and Table Rappers. Rose is finally going to have another woman around her age to talk about her man troubles with, won't that be fun!


	20. Chapter 20

**Complicated**

by the Plot Thinens

Girl Talk and **table rappers****– Chapter 20**

The young woman, known as Gwyneth, lit the gas lamp in the cupboard with the help of a match from a box of them that she kept in her apron's pocket. She was then to begin cleaning out the dishes used for the previous odd gathering that Rose had just been party to. However, much to Gwyneth's surprise, Rose was starting up on the washing before her. The servant girl felt a pang of disgrace towards herself and her cleaning skills if this lady of fashion felt that she was in need of a hand. A woman such as Rose shouldn't be dirtying her hands doing such work and she voiced this.

"Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right." Chirped the servant girl as she took the rag that Rose had picked up from her and started to fiercely clean out a tea cup. Rose had to laugh a little, what was the big deal if she helped with the dishes? And this girl obviously had enough work to do without attending to unexpected living house guests. She also doubted that she got a lot of money for it.

"Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death. How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, miss." Answered Gwyneth right away, quite obviously proud of her wage. That was far less than Rose would have guessed even for Victorian England. And she asked again of the amount, not sure if she had heard wrong. To which Gwyneth smirked,

"I know. I would've been happy with six." Gwyneth was pleased with how speechless this upper class woman was with her income. The girl also didn't mind showing off how impressed she was with her generous salary. It was very good for a young single woman like herself in this day and age. If one wanted to be a little scandalous then she might even consider herself one of those modern new aged independent women. Rose sought to change the subject to something else. She was already amazed with how little money was considered a lot in the 1800s; it was practically a slave's wage. She wanted to relate to this woman and she desperately needed to find something in common to do so or she worried she would just continue to gawk at what this servant girl considered perfectly normal by her time's standards.

"So, did you go to school or what?" Asked Rose as it was the only other thing that came to her mind. The girl looked affronted to what she felt was being implied of her and in a bit of a haughty way, or at least what was haughty for her, she declared,

"Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper." Just Sunday?! Rose could not believe this. She used to forget what she learned the next day, she couldn't imagine how you could hope to retain anything with lessons a week between each other. Rose inquired if she really had only gone to school once a week. To which the girl proudly told of how she was taught sums, and to be honest, she had hated every second of it. Now this was something young Rose could relate to, but she felt that Gwyneth was a bit spoiled in that she only had to endure one day of school while she had had to endure it five times a week. Rose was smart but she never until recent years felt the desire to apply herself in school. After all people in her class didn't usually move up in the world and with that already engrained into you from a young age, why try? Though finally able to have something to share in common Rose admitted conspiratorially that she too had hated school too as a child.

"Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own." Giggled Gwyneth to Rose as if they were two little girls trying to keep a secret from the adults in the next room. Rose rolled her eyes and in the spirit of bonding admitted,

"I did plenty of that. I used to go down to the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys." Gwyneth found herself laughing with Rose but then quickly corrected herself and very stiffly replied,

"Well, I don't know much about that, miss." Rose snickered at the girl's uptight behavior and laughed,

"Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same." Gwyneth continued to deny having engaged in any such activities. But finally with a little coaxing she managed to get Gwyneth to admit,

"I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him." Rose's grin couldn't get any bigger.

"I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum." Smiled Rose. Gwyneth was shocked at this well-born woman's ease at admitting such intimate details. Either her idea of how the upper-class conducted themselves was false or she didn't know what to think.

"Well, I have never heard the like." Retorted Gwyneth whose face was tinting red now that her traitorous brain was thinking about the butcher boy's bum as he walked away from the backdoor last Tuesday. Rose began to look a bit nostalgic and she leaned back against the shelves behind her as she looked off into the distance.

"That's actually one of the things that drew me to John, hmm, his smile. He had a great big smile, a special one. Just for me that made me feel like the most important person on the planet… Course his bum was pretty nice too. Firm, you just wanted to pinch it and make his ears tint red. Even when we role played later on I could still get him to…" Rose rambled until she realized that she was probably getting a bit too carried away in her girl talk with a Victorian minded young woman. Straightening up Rose went back on to the previous subject and stated,

"Anyway, ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start." The servant girl couldn't believe her ears, this woman was something else. With all that fire and spirit she wondered how any parents or otherwise could have reigned her in long enough to teach her to be a proper lady. She could only imagine the way Rose behaved as a little girl. And she couldn't have just come into money either, she had perfect teeth by Gwyneth's standards and she had none of the telltale signs of having grown up in want or even malnutrition.

"I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing." Rose looked a little put off by this, she knew that she was dressed as a lady but regardless of what was expected of a 'lady,' she considered herself a lady who could take care of herself. Being independent and speaking your mind didn't make a woman any less civilized in her book. Nor did wanting to actively seek out a date. Rose's attitude and lack of shyness to convention had, after all, scored her John. Once more leaning back against the shelves and in a confident voice she declared,

"Maybe I am. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed." Now Gwyneth felt the need to defend her employer. Sure he had been, well misbehaving as of late but he wasn't a bad man. At least not in her book and she announced to Rose,

"Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve." Rose was able to partly identify with the girl, having grown up with a parent missing in her life. Her father had died when she was very little and she couldn't imagine how hard it would be not having her Mum at least. And growing up in this time, penniless, a girl without parents and on her own, it was just an accomplishment living long enough to be an adult. Rose expressed her deepest sympathies to the girl, but she just smiled and replied,

"Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss or should I say Missus.

"Maybe. Er, who told you he was dead? Or that I was married?" Asked Rose, she knew that she had not mentioned her father to the girl and she was certain that she didn't say she was married, but her ring could have easily given that way. And come to think of it, after the way she had spoken about John, then she had better hope that the girl assumed that she married. Talking like she had in this day and age might imply other things if you weren't married. The Servant looked nervous again and simply wrote it off by saying,

"I don't know. Must have been the Doctor." Rose was pretty sure that the Doctor would have sooner admitted to being her babysitter than her husband at this point in their rebooted relationship, but she let it pass. She was more concern with the subject of her father. She would have had to have mentioned it to John but she couldn't remember if she had said anything about her father to the Doctor. Rose's father had died so long ago that he didn't come up in the conversation a lot. Rose wasn't even sure how much of John's knowledge had been inherited by the Doctor. He had to have a basic knowledge of her or how else would they have been able to work together so well in such a short time. Rose remembered herself and the girl waiting patiently in front of her and decided to continue on the subject of parents, since Gwyneth could relate to the loss.

"My father died years back." Declared Rose feeling sad but still a bit detached as she only knew her father from old photographs and stories that her mother had told her. Still she had lacked that closeness to a male role model or a man in general growing up. With her mother bouncing from boyfriend to boyfriend as she was growing up and never having a solid male presence in her life, Rose had gone off looking in the wrong places for that closeness. That had got her into a lot of trouble in the past. It wasn't until Mickey and then her knight in shining armor, John, came along that she had those solid relationships and positive male role models in her life had been lacking. Mickey had taught her that she deserved having the attention of a good man and John had shown her that she could be truly and deeply loved by a good man. Still she felt her father's absence a lot more lately now that the man in her life had once more been abruptly taken from her. Not that John had wanted to leave her or that he really had. He was still here, technically, physically anyway. They just need time, yeah? Rose hugged herself a bit for comfort.

"But you've been thinking about him lately more than ever. Especially with all the changes going on lately, and you speak as if the man you love is so far away but he's not." Declared Gwyneth as if she knew all these personal matters as facts. She wasn't guessing she knew that she was right and it perplexed Rose, though for some reason it did not threaten her or insulted at her prying knowledge.

"I suppose so. How do you know all this?" Asked Rose who genuinely wanted to know where and how she was getting all this accurate intelligence from. The girl looked flustered and bowed her head in shame,

"Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, missus?" Inquired the mousy girl. Rose giggled at the idea of her having servants, the most service she ever got was at a sit down restaurant and that was nothing special. Well if John had been with her it was always special but still she was just a chav from the Powell Estate.

"No, no servants where I'm from." Declared Rose. That's when Gwyneth started for lack of a better word to get really spooky. She stated as fact that Rose had come from a great distance to be where she was currently standing and when asked by Rose, what made her assume such a thing, she began to ramble,

"You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame." The girl went on about the noise in London and what she didn't realize, with her Victorian disposition, were cars and air planes. But as amazing as people flying were, Rose had flown farther than anyone before. She was clearly divining the future that Rose came from, but then her ramblings turned dark and with obvious intent to warn.

"The things you've seen and will see. You need to be careful and watch out for danger, the two of you. The darkness, the big bad wolf…" squeaked Gwyneth as she stepped back in terror, then remembering herself she tried to regain her composure.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, missus." Said Gwyneth apologetically, hoping that she had not gone and alienated herself from yet another person. Rose took pity on the scared woman and assured her that she had nothing to be sorry for. It was then that Gwyneth admitted to her inability to stop seeing things that she shouldn't be able to see. And that even her mother had told her she had this sight and that it had to be hidden or else others would fear her. For the most she did a good job hiding it but lately it was insistent. She couldn't stop it from coming out.

"It's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" Asked the Doctor, startling the two and seemingly coming out of nowhere, nowhere being the cupboard entrance. He always did move too quietly thought Rose and he had obviously been listening in on their conversation. As to when he started listening Rose didn't know but she hoped not too early. She wasn't sure how the Doctor would feel about her talking about John, or rather him, in an intimate sense to a stranger as she had been earlier. Fortunately, she didn't have to think about that too long as Gwyneth explained to the Doctor,

"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head." The Doctor took pity on the confused girl and gently explained to her what time spent growing up on the rift had done to her.

"You're part of it. You're the key." Smiled the Doctor, but the girl still seemed to be ill at ease.

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts." The Doctor found this information to be very encouraging and beamed,

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." To which the Girl asked how and what she was meant to do. And with his famous grin the Doctor declared in all seriousness,

"We're going to have a séance."

The groups had migrated to Mister Sneed's living room and were now gathered around a table.

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. Come, we must all join hands." Instructed Gwyneth with the first confidence she had shown yet, she was even a little excited. The Doctor couldn't help but admire the look of a being given their chance to shine in what they did best. She was truly herself and not hiding what she was in this moment. Maybe the reason that she seemed so nervous all the time was the stress of constantly having to hide her gift from the world for fear of reprisal. But every group has to have a naysayer and Dickens was obviously not getting into the 'spirit' of the matter. He refused to hold hands and got up from the table.

"I can't take part in this." Dickens said in a gruff voice.

"Humbug? Come on, open mind." Smiled the Doctor as he joined hands with Sneed and Gwyneth , very excited to get this séance underway. Rose couldn't help but notice that the Doctor had elected to sit across from her and not hold her hand. Now she was presented with the option of holding the hands of two other men. One that she only knew as her kidnapper and groper and the other although she knew from history, was a stranger to her otherwise. She didn't want to think that the Doctor would be as insensitive to tell her to get over the kidnapping thing and the rest that went with it if she voiced her displeasure. But she couldn't help but feel that he was incapable, as the alien he was now, of grasping at how uncomfortable a situation she was being put in. Or what discomforts she was putting aside for him. She was also miffed that the last man to feel her up in the past twenty four hours was not her husband. However, for the sake of Gwyneth and to avoid what the Doctor called domestics she held two man's hands. She did make sure to accidently pinch Sneed's hand and twist it before settling her left hand into his right. She held out her right to Dickens but he still was moving about the room in a huff.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." Bellowed the famous writer. Gwyneth obviously accustomed to this sort of accusation against to her honesty and sight drew her eyes down to the table in embarrassment, but the Doctor didn't need old Charlie being, as the Earth saying went, 'a doubting Thomas' right now. He needed Gwyneth in full form and at her best level of self-belief.

"Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium." Smirked the Doctor. Rose just rolled her eyes at her technically-still-her-husband, 'talk about corn ball', she thought and then said aloud,

"I can't believe you just said that." The Doctor giggled along with Rose for a moment but then straightened up very proper and encouraged Dickens to join them as he might be needed in the act that they were about to engage in. Finally deciding to throw his pride to the wind, the writer agreed to sit down and joined hands with Rose and Gwyneth. The Doctor instructed Gwyneth to reach out with her gift and the servant girl relaxed and exhaled,

"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." Dickens merely rolled his eyes but continued to hold hands. Suddenly Rose thought that she could hear whispering and almost conspiratorially asked if anyone else could hear what she was hearing? Charles was at the end of his patience with the woman's remark and barked that nothing could happen and that this was a waste of time. Rose told the man to look at Gwyneth and that was when he saw and believed. Gaseous wisps were forming around Gwyneth's head and she informed the gathered of their presence. They heard what might have been words but they were too weak and the Doctor urged Gwyneth to look deeper and take control.

"I can't!" Cried Gwyneth but the Doctor insisted,

"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link." Knowing what to do the girl finally made contact and behind her appeared the outline of three blue-ish figures.

"Great God! Spirits from the other side!" Declared Sneed to the room in astonishment

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor corrected, the closest figure then began to speak with its own voice and at the same time through Gwyneth's voice and begged,

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us." The Doctor was taken aback and driven to listen at the urgency of the beings voice.

"What do you want us to do?" he asked the gaseous being.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge." Implored the Gelth. That was very specific and the Doctor wasn't going to just do what he was told, he needed a reason.

"What for?" asked the Doctor genuinely wondering. The Gelth explained to the room's occupants, who stared on in shocked awe of the beings before them, that they were few in number and as the last of their kind, faced extinction. The Doctor being able to relate to being the last of a dying race piped up and asked the specters why and what had happened?

"Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came." Answered the Gelth and upon asking what war they spoke of to the Doctor's grief they responded,

"The Time War." Rose looked across the way to the Doctor who made eye contact with her but then lowered his head in what appeared to be mourning and possibly shame. Rose wondered if this was the same war that the Doctor had spoken of as the Gelth continued,

" The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

"So that's why you need the corpses." Declared the Doctor. That explained the sorry state they found themselves in now and why they were body snatching.

"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us." The Gelth begged. Rose looked to them and said in astonishment,

"But we can't." The Doctor furrowed his brow to Rose and asked her why they could not give them the dead to use as vessels. Rose was taken aback by the Doctor's question. It seemed obvious to her why they simply could not comply with the Gelth's request, it was wrong. But as she tried to word why and how she felt about it, she found words were failing her and she was coming up short on them. Instead she stammered,

"It's not. I mean, it's not…" The Doctor was irritated by Rose's domestic and archaic thinking toward dead bodies left to rot and asked her in a reprimanding voice,

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." Rose found herself rendered mute at not only his shabby treatment of her but how opposite her beliefs were to the Doctor. What he was suggesting was just wrong to her and she couldn't help but feel that way. What a time to learn she had different ideological views from her technically-still-her-husband. The Gelth were now losing strength and before they faded away once more into the gas lines they shouted,

"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth." Gwyneth now done fell over once she was released from her direct connection with the Rift and the Gelth. Rose was immediately concerned for the girl's safety and flew to her side to attend to her. Dickens and Sneed simply sat there in shock. Charles had undeniable proof that all he had seen and heard was true, and although he thought he knew all, now realized that he knew nothing.

The first thing that Gwyneth became aware of was that she was lying down on the chaise longue, the second was what she had just been through and she sat up in shock. Rose's hands were on her and she began to steady and comfort the startled girl.

"It's all right. You just sleep." Whispered Rose to the girl.

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" Asked Gwyneth through an exhausted haze. She then became aware of the Doctor standing some ways off and leaning against the wall.

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival." He declared in earnest. Rose tightened her protective hold on Gwyneth, trying to shield the young girl from what the Doctor implied.

"I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." Announced Rose to the Doctor as she handed a glass of water to the fatigued girl. Sneed then piped up and asked the Doctor to clarify what he had said earlier about the creatures.

"Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" he asked in his confusion of the situation before them.

"Aliens." Answered the Doctor dryly. That didn't seem to make sense to Sneed as he had never seem people like the Gelth before, but the world was large, maybe there were such people on some savage continent oceans away.

"Like foreigners, you mean?" Inquired Sneed who desperately wanted to know where on Earth these people were from that the Doctor surely must have seen in his travels. The Doctor rolled his eyes exasperated with the thought of trying to explain outer space aliens to an ape whose species had not even invented airplanes yet at this point.

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." Said the Doctor as he pointed up to the sky. Poor Sneed could not think as high as the sky and thought the Doctor meant up North instead.

"Brecon?" he asked in disbelief, the Doctor not even bothering to correct him on how tiny his thinking was simply replied,

"Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl." Shouted Dickens who had obviously, in the time Gwyneth had been out cold, been indulging in some heavy drinking. Rose was horrified by the men's compliance with handing Gwyneth over to some Alien's that although seemed to be in need of assistance, they knew nothing about.

"They're not having her." She hissed to the men, the Doctor couldn't understand how Rose couldn't see it her way, it was so simple how they could help this dying race. And the Doctor had seen so many races die that he did not want to sit idly by and watch another go extinct because of the Time War.

"But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." Said the Doctor, trying to make Rose just see his way as moral and right. It was then that Dickens decided to drunkenly amble over and declared his observation although unbelievable,

"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts, but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers." The Doctor saw the brilliance in the idea that the Gelth had devised on their own.

"Good system. It might work." Declared the Doctor to Rose and Dickens. Rose felt up against the wall, how could they possibly want to go through with this? It was so obviously wrong to her, the Doctor didn't know any of these dead people he was volunteering and did he even take the feelings of those left behind into account. Didn't he see how painful it could be for someone to see the body of their departed love one walking about while someone, not their loved one, controlled it and manipulated it to their will? Her father was dead and if she or her mother saw something doing such a thing to his remains they would be devastated. It was desecration of corpses!

"You can't let them run around inside of dead people." Rose defended.

"Why not? It's like recycling." Countered the Doctor in a relaxed unconcerned air that left Rose stunned to hear him talking about the dead bodies of her species as if they were second-hand shoes. Rose thought that he must not be taking this idea seriously and tried to clarify as best she could that this idea was a no-go.

"Seriously though, you can't." Stated Rose. The Doctor just scoffed at Rose and what he considered backward thinking. Back in the renaissance of humanity, you couldn't even cut up a corpse for fear of desecration and sin, but look how much they learned about medicine when they finally did? How advanced could their understanding of the human body be by now if they just saw the body of a dead human as just rotting flesh, nothing more. No domestics, no wasted attachments to something that was no longer a loved one and no more feeling than dirt on the ground or dust on a table. Which by the way was what the human body would eventually be, dust.

"Seriously though, I can." Said the Doctor, losing his patience with Rose yet again. Rose would not be side stepped on this issue, the Doctor might be a superior being but that didn't mean that he knew everything and she wasn't going to just follow him blindly. This was a marriage and an equal partnership, damn it.

"It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death." The Doctor rolled his eyes and tried to word his next sentence in terms her ape-ish little brain could grasp,

"Do you carry a donor card?" asked the Doctor condescendingly. Rose saw what he was getting at but this wasn't like that, she volunteered to be that, these people had not.

"That's different. That's…" Rose tried to say what was on her mind but was cut off by the Doctor, talking down to her.

"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying." Barked the Doctor at a shocked Rose. After he had said it the Doctor had even surprised himself by how short and cruel he had been with Rose. He wanted to change his tone and go at this argument in a different direction, but by then it was already too late. The Doctor had said what he said and Rose was angry. How dare he talk to her like she was a simpleton. Even though Rose saw the Doctor as an equal it was becoming painfully clear that The Doctor did not feel the same towards her. He didn't even respect her opinion and that knowledge alone was enough to boil over the anger that had been stewing in her. Why was he even wasting his words on her if he thought that she was just a dumb ape? Why didn't he just ignore her instead if he saw her as being so ridiculous in his bloated alien mind? Angrily the blond shouted at the Doctor,

"I don't care. They're not using her. And you are the King of mixed messages! You know that? Ya git!" The Doctor was astonished that even at a time like this Rose was bringing up domestics again. Why couldn't he just reason with her, why did she have to see things so differently from him and be so difficult?

"The Gelth are dying and you want to have this conversation now?! Damn bloody apes and their domestics!" Declared the Doctor not believing this immature human's priorities. That did it, Rose was ready to snap and she did. Hang 1869! Hang any pretense of keeping up appearances, she was having a full on 'domestic' dispute right now!

"Everything I do is domestic to you! Everything! It makes me bloody wonder why you bother with Earth at all! If you didn't want to have to deal with human domestics, even in a small way then you should have found a different planet with a species of inferior beings to toy with the lives of! And hid among them instead! How do you think I feel, Time Lord? Trying to make accommodations for you all the time, yeah? I never know what will set you off?! I'm done being quiet and understanding for you! Like it or not, you are married to a human being and if you can't accept me as I am and how I think, then I don't know why you brought me along in the first place! You had Jack, you could have left a wife you didn't want behind like any other git of a male from Earth! I don't know why I don't just go home! You know, my ideas although apish to you, are just as worthy of considering as yours and I don't see why we should risk Gwyneth getting hurt! I understand the urgency of the situation but she is innocent of all this!" Rose said fuming, but her long row was interrupted by the mousy haired girl,

"Don't I get a say, missus? And you shouldn't be fighting, it's not right." Squeaked Gwyneth to the two arguing people.

"Look, you don't understand what's going on." Said Rose trying to explain that Gwyneth was missing something big in her understanding of the situation.

"You would say that, missus, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid." Declared Gwyneth, angry at Rose's cheek, but also a bit hurt.

"That's not fair." Piped Rose to the girl. She didn't think she was stupid just ignorant of what was going on around her and if she could put it in the right way she would understand too. 'Is that how the Doctor feels when he looks at me?' thought Rose to herself. Maybe that was where a lot of the tension between them was coming from and she just wasn't capable of seeing things through his eyes like he did. But that didn't mean that her opinion should be over looked. Something just didn't seem right to her. Rose's thoughts were interrupted when Gwyneth declared,

"It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me." Rose had her reservations, but she had to admit that she was acting just like the Doctor was. She was thinking that a person not as evolved or knowledgeable as herself had an opinion not as weighted as her own. She just hoped that the Doctor was seeing this too and learning something from it.

"Doctor, what do I have to do?" Asked the servant girl of The Doctor. The Doctor having been calmed down by Gwyneth assured the girl that she did not need to do anything. He didn't want her or Rose to think that he would force Gwyneth to do anything against her will, but the young woman would have none of it and proclaimed,

"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me." The Doctor was then off like a shot bouncing around the room brimming with ideas to solve this next problem. Looking all about he announced,

"We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?" Sneed looked at the Doctor with grim realization and gulped,

"That would be the morgue." Rose, who had been sitting besides Gwyneth as the two girls watched the Doctor fly about the room, did not like the idea of where they would be going next. She then declared in a nervous and shaky voice,

"No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?" The group then made their way down to the morgue and to the end of this quest.

**Author's notes:** I hope I didn't make the Doctor too terrible in this chapter; it's all for the sake of their relationships character development. And Rose really had to get some stuff out in the open, even if she didn't get an answer yet. And as for some comments that I have received about staying too close to the script, I can assure you that down the line there is going to be some very serious off scripting. In fact the further we go the more off script we are going to have to be. So I must ask for two things, first and the most obvious, is that you continue to read my story…if you don't mind...that is. And three, no two, that you bare with me. Also I hope I do not give too much away but there is a matter of filling in a huge blank now that "Empty Child and Boom Town" seem to have already been done away with by the time this story started.


	21. Chapter 21

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**For Better or for Worse – Chapter 21**

The path down to the morgue was cold. They had left the relative warmth of the upper part of the funeral parlor to ascend down into a catacomb-like looking chamber. No wonder they stored bodies down here, it was probably freezing cold in the summer too. Cold radiated from the stones on the wall and Rose was starting to seriously envy the Doctor's leather jacket. With the scarf no longer around her neck her shoulders and chest were chilly and she didn't think that the Doctor was in as compliant a mood to let her cling to his arm for warmth. In fact his stoic look and tightened chin was probably making her more nervous, especially for Gwyneth. They now where at the bottom of the stairs and Rose could already see the white sheets covering the chilled remains of some person departed. She could also see knives, saws, and every form of rusty looking implement possible to disembowel a human corpse. Despite having grown up on the Powell estate in a relatively dangerous area, Rose had only ever seen a person dead once before, Mickey's 'sweet' old grandmother. Tonight she had already seen two dead people and they had been moving around like movie monsters and if the plan were to go as followed, there would be more walking undead about. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stick around to see that but she proceeded for Gwyneth's moral support. Rose just hoped that if the dead did start walking around again that she didn't hang on the Doctor in fear. She was still mad at him and didn't want to her technically-still-her-husband knowing that she was frightened or give him the satisfaction of knowing that she needed his comfort.

"Urgh. Talk about Bleak House." Declared the Doctor as he surveyed the grim room. Rose watched the other three people with her look about the morgue for the weak point in the Rift, and that was when something hit her that didn't make sense about what they were doing.

"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869." Stated Rose in confusion to the Doctor, pretty sure that something as significant as that would have made her school history books and would have easily been interesting enough to grab the attention of any and every underachieving student at her state run school.

If the Doctor had not heard the false idea of linear timelines so often from humans he might have thought that Rose's simplified logic of time progression was cute. But a green companion was always a liability and he needed Rose to understand just how fragile time and her very existence or the continued existence of anything as she remembered it truly was. It was very important that she understand the nature of time if she were to continue traveling with him. The last thing he needed was a companion with a laid back attitude of 'Because it already happened by the time I was born, it's going to happen the same way regardless of how much effort I put in. So why worry or try?' That thinking got people killed.

"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." Said the Doctor sternly and in all earnest as he stared his icy blue eyes right into Rose's hazels ones. The Doctor's cold and grim voice cut her to the bone and she believed him and feared the fragility of time. She also couldn't help but feel that he was warning her not to expect that her timeline's safety was granted when she traveled with him. And if she really wanted to go by his tone that she was never safe not even with him. Rose's thoughts were halted by Dickens making a comment about the room growing colder. Rose had to agree that she was feeling chilled to the bone, and even more so when she began to notice the creepy wafting of blue gas gathering under an arch in the morgue. After a sufficient amount of gaseous material exited the gas lines the same lead Gelth appeared before them. In a sad and hopeful voice the Gelth declared,

"You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him." Rose felt that the Gelth was getting ahead of itself, and she had not forgotten the potential risk being presented to Gwyneth. She had to have them assure Gwyneth's safety and demanded,

"Promise you won't hurt her." The Gelth seemed to ignore Rose's demand and merely continued to beg,

"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth." The Doctor was nervous. He had ignored what Rose had said earlier about the using of human corpses, the survival of a dying race took priority in his mind. But he could not ignore the risk of harm that could befall humans and Gelth if one species got spooked by the other. The Gelth could not stay on Earth. Humanity was even less ready to deal with this sort of situation and might even attribute it to demons or devils or whatever they were called. Panicked humans were some of the most dangerous beings the Doctor had ever met. Coming to a proper solution that might help everyone in the long run he stated to the Gelth,

"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?" He didn't want the Gelth to make the mistake that they could just start walking around and coexisting with the general population of Earth without an issue. As higher beings they might not be accustomed to the actions and thinking of lower beings. Although it would probably give Rose the willies, the Gelth inhabited corpses would have to travel with him in the TARDIS and find a suitable planet to start over.

"My angels. I can help them live." Trumpeted Gwyneth with joy of what she could do for these wayward spirits. The Gelth then, with much enthusiasm, instructed the Doctor as to where the weak point that they had been looking for was. Gwyneth let out a cry of delight as she was told that the weak point was under the arch. The girl went to step into place but was halted by Rose imploring her that she did not have to go through with this, but the servant girl's mind was set and she walked into place. With everything ready, the Gelth shouted out to the girl to establish the bridge and grant them freedom.

"Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!" Declared Gwyneth as she reached out to her angels.  
"Bridgehead establishing." Cried out the Gelth as if it were ignoring the words of the girl helping them and merely focusing on the task at hand. Gwyneth ever the kind and caring being radiated her kindness to the Gelth, guiding them in.

"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!" Called out the girl to the Gelth. The Gelth declared that the bridge to Earth was made and blue gas began to pour from the servant girl's mouth. It was not a pleasant or normal looking sight to Rose's eyes and she was sure every other human in the chamber probably felt the same.

"She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend." Shouted the Gelth. Suddenly the mood in the room shifted from creepily benign to frightful and angry. The blue apparition of the group went from looking childlike and innocent to burning red with flames and sharp teeth to add to its menacing appearance. In a voice that now sounded like that of a demon the Gelth declared that it they were coming through in force. Any pretense of helplessness or friendliness was now dropped and the Gelth began to show their true nature to the growing ever nervous liberators. Seeing that obviously more than just a simple few were coming through the void Dickens announced in confusion,

"You said that you were few in number." As he said this more and more Gelth circled about the group, passing coldly through the living until finally settling inside nearby dead.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses." Hissed the evil specter, reveling in its successful deceit. All about the morgue corpses began to move about and finally stand. Rose was now very frightened along with everyone else in the room. Especially the Doctor as he began to realize that he had made a terrible mistake in trusting the Gelth. Sneed had had more than enough of his share of walking corpses and began to make demands of his employee,

"Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you!" Sneed was so distracted and focused on the girl that he did not notice the old dead man creeping up behind him.

"Mister Sneed, get back!" warned Rose, but it was too late. Sneed was in the corpse's grasp and his neck was snapped like a chicken's. As soon as the man was dead another Gelth zoomed into his body's mouth and began to take control of the dead body. Sneed looked up at the living people with dead eyes that made them shake with fear.

This is what it was! This is what Rose's instincts had been telling her. It wasn't just morally wrong it was unwise for them to have trusted the Gelth. She knew for certain now that if the Doctor had not come to save her when he had, they would have snapped her neck just like Mister Sneed and she would have been among their ranks. They had been out for blood from the start. Why wait for people to die of natural causes when you could kill them and take over their bodies in literally just a snap? The Gelth in their new bodies now had the Doctor, Dickens and Rose surrounded and the Doctor very sheepishly declared,

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong."

"You think?!" retorted Rose barely able to squeak in out for lack of breath. She was so terrified that the effort from trying to breathe normally was making her dizzy. And as if the two were not scared enough the Sneed Gelth body shouted,

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us." Dickens screeched his terror and fearfully backed up avoiding the corpses and heading for the door and escape. Rose and the Doctor however were not as lucky and were finding themselves being backed against the gated wall towards the back of the chamber.

"We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead." Thundered the Gelth in grim satisfaction. The Doctor was very aware that he was no longer in control of the situation and desperately cried out to Gwyneth to stop what she was doing and send the Gelth back, but it was clear that she was not hearing him as all she said in reply was the mimicked orders of the lead Gelth to kill The Doctor and his two other remaining companions. No getting around it they were slated for death so that the Gelth could walk about in their corpses. The Gelth corpses were now right on top of the Time Lord and his bride and in a last effort to find sanctuary the Doctor pushed Rose into the tiny gated chamber before slamming the gate shut in front of them. Wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the corpses, Rose and the Doctor pressed themselves flush against the wall, as cold dead hands tried to reach through the bars for them.

"Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so…" Shouted Dickens to his friends, but he was not able to finish his sentence as he ran from the room to save his own life.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth." Demanded the Gelth of their prey stubbornly just out of reach behind metal. The Doctor was scared and upset for what was to come and with a rumbling voice shouted to the aliens,

"I trusted you. I pitied you!" But the Gelth had no sympathy for The Doctor all they cared for was conquest.

"We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh." Full of righteous fury and indignation at the abuse of his trust and sympathies he hissed,

"Not while I'm alive." And with words that chilled every cell in the time travelers' bodies they hissed,

"Then live no more."

Rose and the Doctor continued to push themselves and twisted against the cold stony wall of the chamber trying desperately to hold onto their lives. Rose couldn't believe the situation she was in. It was impossible that she was being threatened by alien zombies that as soon as they broke down that gate would kill them and steal their corpses for the Gelth's evil mission of spreading death. Bad enough that she was going to die but how could she die in the past? Clinging to the hope that they would somehow get out of this alive and not understanding how they could do otherwise, Rose in a panicked voiced asked the Doctor,

"But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?" The Doctor looked into Rose's pleading eyes and saw the fear and desperation behind them. He gave her a look of pity for the reality she was about to face and whole heartedly apologized to her. Rose still in denial that this was the end tried to reason her way out of a sure death and asked the Doctor,

"But it's 1869. How can I die now?" She didn't understand and the Doctor in their last moment's owed her that much of an explanation and explained in a grim but sympathetic voice,

"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here." Rose wouldn't have him blaming himself for this. Sure they were technically still married, but that didn't mean that she was tethered t him. She didn't have to come with him when he finally asked for her to join him. She let out a sigh and looking forward at the enemy and feeling braver and more resolute than she might have been, said to the Doctor,

"It's not your fault. I wanted to come." The Doctor couldn't believe that this was the end for him either. He was the big impressive time lord who had seen it all. Never did he think it would end this way, he told Rose of how he had seen Troy fall, World War five and had even thrown boxes at the Boston Tea Party. All of these accomplishments and traveling, but now…  
"Now I'm going to die in a dungeon… in Cardiff." Said the Doctor in disbelief. The last bit of his sentence lingering on his mouth like a bad taste. Oh if only dying were all they faced in their final moments.

"It's not just dying. We'll become one of them." Stated Rose as a terrible fact. The two looked at each other now. When one faced death suddenly things that seemed to be such great obstacles or barriers were tiny or none existent. The Doctor lost himself in Rose's eyes and being married to her seemed like the most wonderful gift he had ever stumbled on. And what a gift he had squandered, he had wasted so much time and now there was no time at all anymore. Memories of his time with her as John flashed in his mind and they were wonderful pieces of heaven to gaze on. He did not deserve her, even he felt that way as John, but in their last moments every part of him, not just the John part tucked away, wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go. He was overtaken with the unbridled urgency to kiss her senseless and even started to move towards her to initiate said kiss. However, before he could act first Rose pumped up on fear, adrenaline and the primitive urge to claim her mate that she had been denied for far too long, lunged at the Doctor and claimed his lips. Still mindful of the danger of moving closer to the gate she plastered herself up against him and she remained out of reach of zombie hands.

The kiss was fiery, possessive and held all the passion to be expected from a dying woman towards her lover. Rose wanted the universe as her witness that he was hers, even if he never had brought himself to admit the same to her he wanted him to know where she stood as far as her love for him went. The Doctor was so shocked by the nature of the kiss and its suddenness that he unfortunately was not able to act on it until it was almost over. It was amazing to the Doctor just how much she was saying to him with just a kiss, it was almost as good as if she were telepathic. This was a woman who without a doubt loved him absolutely, unashamedly, unreservedly, and to be honest it almost frightened him that someone who in all honesty didn't know him at all could feel that way towards him. If it were any other situation he probably would have had some cynical remark about not really knowing him or anything to brush off these feelings. But with his death near and it being so wonderful, warm and inviting a feeling, he silenced his brain and sought to live in this moment with his technically-still-his-wife. No sooner had he started to respond to the kiss and enjoy the bliss of her lips, he was robbed of his last bit of heaven. Rose pulled away from him with lightning fast reflexes and hugged her back to the wall again. Safe against the wall she gripped The Doctor's right hand with her left. Feeling empowered by her actions she announced to the Doctor,

"We'll go down fighting, yeah? Together?" The Doctor answered the affirmative, and squeezed his brave Rose's hand. She squeezed back and rubbed her thumb against his hand. If it had to end like this, then this was the way she wanted to end it, always holding his hand. She'd hold on until the dark veil of their quick and probably painful deaths spread over them. She would fulfill her vows to him, until death do us part, though grimly she wondered if that would extent to undead too, which they were soon to be. Despite the gravity of the situation a feeling of peace now fell over the Doctor and he again looked deep into Rose's eyes and said in the most profound earnest,

"I'm so glad I met you." Rose felt a relief that she had not felt in days, he did not regret crossing paths with her even though complications came with it. She couldn't hug or touch him anymore. The zombies were breaking some unfeeling bones to reach further past the bars of the gate and any movement away from the wall risked both of them getting grabbed. The kiss before had been risky enough, but her words could still touch him.

"Me too. I'm happy I met you. For better or for worse, Doctor."

"For better or for worse. I just wish that worse were under better circumstances right now." Stated the Doctor as he dodged yet another undead grabby hand.

"You and me both." Retorted Rose as she squeezed his hand again. Having reluctantly accepted a fate worse than death the two lovers were very surprised by the return of Charles Dickens, who they thought had fled the building and abandoned them.

"Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!" Shouted the writer as he turned the knobs to the unlit gas lamps in the room. The Doctor couldn't believe his eyes. Had the man gone mad? Not only had he come back to his certain doom, he was trying to fill the room up with natural gas.

"What're you doing?" He asked, his large Time Lord brain not making the connection yet. Dickens's excited declared that they need to flood the place with gas and the Doctor finally got the idea and manically declared the writer's brilliant idea.

"What, so we choke to death instead? " Asked Rose perplexed and wondering if these two men had gone nutty.

"Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous." Questioned Dickens as he covered his mouth with a rag to help filter the air going to his lungs.

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!" trumpeted the Doctor. Realizing that Dickens was both a threat and a potential new host for the Gelth, they began to lumber towards him. Dickens now remembering the dangerous reason he had fled this chamber in the first place expressed a very intense desire for his theory to be proven accurate before he was overtaken by the dead. The Doctor seeing that his friend was in danger and that the plan although brilliant might not be working fast enough, declared that there was plenty more gas and ripped the main gas line from the wall. As Dickens suspected this action promptly removed the Gelth from their stolen bodies and the poor dead humans collapsed to the floor once more still as the dead should be. Dickens threw his hands up in celebration and the Doctor and Rose safely emerged from behind the gate. The Doctor skipped the few feet to Gwyneth and pleaded,

"Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels." This seemed to snap the girl slightly out of her daze and questioned,

"Liars?" She couldn't believe it.

"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!" Announced the Doctor to the pale looking girl. The Doctor did not think she looked well at all. Rose staggered from breathing in the foul and toxic air and coughed,

"I can't breathe." Eyes still focused on Gwyneth, the Doctor instructed Dickens to get Rose out of there, and Charles grabbed onto Rose's arm and tried to lead her out. Rose would not have this and stepped back effectively pulling herself free from the man and shouted,

"I'm not leaving her or you, Doctor!" Gwyneth wanted to help her new friends but she felt that the Gelth were too strong for her to stop anymore and relayed this to the Doctor. The Doctor knew the girl had the strength to stop the Gelth, she just needed encouragement and an incentive to push harder.

"Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift." The Doctor begged the girl. They were up against the wall metaphorically this time and if Gwyneth couldn't do something then this timeline and humanity was doomed. With serious eyes full of purpose the girl reached into her pocket,

"I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." Ordered Gwyneth as she pulled the box of matches she always carried out of her pocket. Rose was horrified at what the girl was implying and begged her not to go through with it, there had to be another way. Gwyneth however was set on her decision and once more ordered the three people to leave. Rose tried to reach the girl she had grown fond of to take away the matches but the Doctor grabbed Rose by her shoulders and held her back.

"Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. And I'll be fine. Now go!" Demanded the Doctor shaking Rose shoulders a bit to not only grab her attention but to make her see reason. Rose reluctantly agreed to leave. She trusted the Doctor and that trust was the only thing that let her leave Gwyneth. Rose and Dickens raced up the staircase to the exit of the house and fresh air. Rose just prayed that both the Doctor and Gwyneth would be safe.

The servant girl held the box of matches and the Doctor got nervous for Gwyneth, he had lived for much longer and he had the most likely chance of surviving a gas explosion.

"Come on, leave, give that to me." Begged the Doctor as he tried to take the match box, and that was when he noticed that Gwyneth was not moving or acting like a living person at all. And she was becoming paler too. He reached for her neck to feel a pulse and much to his hearts' ache there was none. She was dead and getting colder than the human's normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. The Doctor knew now that even if he were able to take him with her, he could not save her. He kissed the poor girl's forehead she had given so much and asked for nothing in return, and would now give even more.

"Thank you." Said the Doctor solemnly and he ran for the door to escape the inferno to come. The Doctor raced down the hallways of the funeral parlor, he didn't know how much time he had left before Gwyneth's corpse would somehow light the match. Finally reaching the front door that was left open he leaped into the air and cleared the door just as the house behind him erupted into a gaseous explosion. The Doctor went flying across the street and landed face first into the thin layer of snow on the ground. Fiery debris was all about and some landed on the Doctor setting a small part of his jacket unknowingly on fire. Rose seeing where he landed rushed over to him and threw snow on top of his jacket all the while shouting for him to roll around and put out the flames. Finally flame free the Doctor looked up to Rose guiltily, who questioningly looked at the Doctor and asked,

"She didn't make it." The Doctor felt horrible for letting not only Gwyneth down but also his promise to not leave Gwyneth while she was in danger. But if she were already dead she wasn't in danger anymore, that had passed and he was too late to help.

"I'm sorry. She closed the rift." Answered the Doctor sadly. Dickens looked over to the burning building and his heart sank.

"At such a cost. The poor child." Mourned the writer. Rose just stared at the Doctor in disbelief that he would not only leave a girl to die but lie to her that he would not. Rose had trusted him? The Doctor was hurt by Rose's accusatory stare and he needed her to understand that she had the idea all wrong. He couldn't stand her looking at him like that or even the ideas that his imagination were thinking up in his head of what she was thinking about him. And in a pleading voice he explained to Rose,

"I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes." That didn't make any sense to Rose and she asked the Doctor what he meant.

"I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch." Explained the Doctor as if he was on trial and his wife was his judge, jury and executioner. That was impossible what the Doctor was saying thought Rose it didn't make sense, but at the same time her instincts knew the Doctor wasn't lying to her. That didn't make it any less unbelievable though.

"But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?"

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor." Stated the writer sadly to his two companions. They didn't know how she did, but somehow Gwyneth had helped them even in death.

"She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know." Stated Rose grimly as she watched the house continue to burn. She was grateful to the girl but saddened by the loss of her life which was a waste. She, like so many others, would be yet another unsung hero. Cut down before her time. Pausing for a bit longer on the flaming house, the Doctor, Rose, and Dickens then began to walk away down the snowy streets of Cardiff.

Fresh snow began to fall from the sky around the TARDIS. The lantern on top and the blue box glowed with the same warm and inviting yellow-orange as the 'Police public call box' sign below it. But it was only a comfort to those who knew it was there and why. To Dickens it was just an oddly designed and color shed. Nothing special or of any great importance. The Doctor was very much looking forward to spending some time talking with his favorite writer without the threat of danger or kidnappers over his head. He just needed to slip into the TARDIS and grab every copy of Charles Dickens's books that he had on the TARDIS so that he could get them signed.

"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long." Explained the Doctor, not wanting to get too involved in explanations about his 'shed' with the adventure now over. He just wanted what he felt was his deserved time to fan-boy with Dickens undisturbed. Rose finally having the time to appreciate the fact that she was conversing with the famous Charles Dickens, an honor and privilege that she was certain every English literature teacher she ever had would have fought each other tooth and nail for, decided that now was as good a time as any to chat him up while the Doctor did whatever it was he did. Maybe it wasn't late enough for them to all get a cuppa, it would certainly be an upper at this point. She also had to admit that she was interested in continuing to watch the Doctor and Mister Dickens play off each other. So in a very interested and hopeful voice she asked Dickens,

"What are you going to do now?" In a loud and jovial voice, that could rival Father Christmas, Charles announced,

"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." 'Darn it,' thought the Doctor. That meant that any chance of getting an autograph was out of the question if Dickens wanted to get back to London on time. Old Charlie would have to leave immediately for any chance of his plan to spend Christmas with his family to work. Though spending time with your family was indeed in the best thing to do on Christmas, thought the Doctor. And for some reason he couldn't help but rest his eyes on the blonde woman next to him, wearing a gold band on her right ring finger. The Doctor, realizing he was staring at Rose, focused his attentions back Dickens and declared that the writer had seemed to have cheer up quite a bit from how he was at the beginning of the night.

Dickens was a man transformed. Thanks to his serendipitous meeting with the Doctor the world was fresh and new to him again. He was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself, he was happy as an angel and as merry as a school boy. He spoke of his wonderment with this huge new world that had been tonight revealed to him and how inspired he was because of it. He thought that he knew everything and realized that he only was just beginning to learn anything.

"All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them." Sang Dickens to the Doctor and Rose. He was abuzz with the energy of a man easily the same age as Rose. Rose started to panic a little, she was worried that they might had changed history and if they did then what would that do specifically to her future. She was sure that she never heard of such a story by Dickens even with her limited knowledge of his works beyond 'A Christmas Carol'. So cautiously she asked the writer in hope to preserve her timeline.

"Do you think that's wise?" Dickens assumed that Rose was concerned about the panic or scrutiny that such a subject could create. There was no way possible for him to realized Rose's real fear of messing up history. To alleviate her fears, the author explained to the girl,

"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth."

"Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic." Said the Doctor brushing off what the writer had said as if it were nothing to worry about or as if he didn't wish to dwell on the thought too long. The Time Lord seemed itching to leave and Rose wondered if the Doctor was at all concerned with changing the history of English literature.

"Bye, then, and thanks for saving us." Smiled Rose and in complete gratitude shook the man's hand firmly and kissed him on the cheek for good measure. If it wasn't for Dickens then they would be worse than dead. Rose wouldn't have the prospect of spending her future with the Doctor, because she wouldn't have had one if not for this ingenious Victorian man. Dickens clearly enjoyed the kiss but seemed surprised at receiving it at all. It was a very new aged thing to him, a kiss on the hand might have been expected but not on the cheek. The Doctor also seemed to be fine with the display of thanks so perhaps that was where her forward thinking could be attributed to, at least according to his Victorian mind. And she was indeed a lovely woman and if that sweet kiss on his cheek were any hint to her tenderness than the Doctor was indeed the luckiest man ever married to find a wife such as Rose. Flustered and beat red the writer declared,

"Oh, my dear. How modern. Doctor, if I might be so bold, you certainly chose quite the rare and lovely creature to be your bride."

"What? ..." Asked Rose confused as she turned her eyes to find the Doctor's. Had he really told Charles Dickens that she was his wife? Even if it were just for appearances, the possibility made her giddy with hope and excitement. He could have always just introduced her as a friend or… ward, which probably would have been an equally acceptable and believable relationship between the two of them in this time. The Doctor however much to her disappointment, merely straightened up awkwardly and cleared his voice sheepishly,

"As I said Charlie boy, places to go." Rose thought she saw the Doctor's big ears turn pink but it could have been the cold for all she knew. The Doctor began to walk in the direction of the blue box, but Dickens, confused stopped him and asked,

"Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?" Surely the Doctor didn't think that going inside a shed on a cold street was where they would part ways. How long did he plan to spend in that shed? He said he'd only be a minute. The Doctor just elusively implied to the shed and that he would see what he meant in a moment, after the Doctor went into the shed.

"Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?" This was the question that he was hoping to avoid, he didn't have time to give a long explanation that the man although brilliant would most likely still have trouble believing even after all he saw tonight.

"Just a friend passing through." Was all the information that the Doctor would give the writer on that subject. Dickens could accept that the man would remain elusive in revealing his identity, but he seemed to know a great many of things as if he'd already seen it all happen before. Perhaps such a knowledgeable man could answer him the one question that all writers, no matter how famous, had always wanted to ask the winds of time.

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?" The Doctor smiled his manic grin and answered quite happily in the affirmative. And almost afraid for the answer but still desperate to know, he inquired as to how long his books might last? This answer the Doctor was even happier to convey and smiled,

"Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose." The Doctor opened the door to the 'shed' and began to ferry his companion inside. Dickens looking a bit humorously scandalized at the implication of the two alone in a tiny shed declared,

"In the box? Both of you? I understand that you two have been through a lot tonight, but surely there are warmer places for the two of you to happily reunite properly?"

"Down boy. See you." Snipped the Doctor still with a bit of humor in his voice as he and a blushing Rose disappeared into the TARDIS. Before Rose could see his flushed cheeks the Doctor rushed over to the Console to set the controls for the time vortex. Although the Doctor had seemed unconcerned to Rose on the subject of changing literature, she had to be one hundred percent certain that she had nothing to worry about as far as her time she was returning to was concerned.

"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Asked Rose with concern etched on her face. The Doctor looked into the monitor on the console which revealed a video feed of a man standing outside the TARDIS in waiting in confusion. This man was Charles Dickens. The Doctor looked knowingly and a bit sad at the image of the man and declared to a concerned Rose,

"In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story." Rose looked upset and disappointed for the writer, who now discovering a zest for life again would be to soon taken from it.

"Oh, no. He was so nice." The Doctor had to alleviative Rose's melancholy. The Doctor didn't want his companion to be sad at the knowledge of a friend's soon coming death, not on Christmas. And it was indeed Christmas in 1869 again after all.

"But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise." Grinned the Doctor with a smile and energy that instantly pepped up Rose and eliminated the somber mood that had fallen over her.

The Tardis grinded and sang as it dematerializes in front of writer's eyes and he laughed in amazement of the 'antics' of his two amazing friends. Whoever they were they were extraordinary people and he wished them nothing but the best, and walked away. He never felt happier to be alive. He was reborn like Scrooge after being visited by the spirits and as a man wished him a Merry Christmas on the streets, he crowed back,

"Merry Christmas to you. God bless us, every one!"

Rose had sat on the jump seat to take a breath. With her flushed cheeks and slightly rumpled dress she was a vision of loveliness in the Doctor's TARDIS. Now that they were safely in the vortex, the Doctor took this moment to sit next to Rose, he had something he had to say to her and he wanted to be at eye level and equal footing with her.

"Look Rose, I'm sorry. You were suspicious from the start and we shouldn't have let Gwyneth step under that arch. And I was undermining your opinion for no other reason than my superior knowledge and biology over yours." Rose let out a huff and replied a bit miffed,

"Well I guess that's an apology…" she then remembered the more serious part of this conversation and went to comfort the Doctor.

"Gwyneth would have done it even if we tried to stop her. We all have to make our own choices, Doctor. And there will always be bad people out there who will take advantage of others' trust and kindness, even Time Lords' trust and kindness. You wanted to help those in need and I respect that, and I'm glad that you trust people. I just wish you would trust me a little like I trust you." Said Rose in Earnest.

"I do trust you Rose, you have already saved my life and that makes you worthy of trust to me. I will try harder so you can see that I trust you." Explained the Doctor, Rose looked into his eyes and smiled lovingly up at him. That was the first step, that was what she wanted, trust. She had his trust and he had hers. She felt overjoyed at the thought and she hadn't forgotten her promise to reward him for saving her from zombies earlier in that chapel. The remaining adrenaline in her system made her bolder and she figured that she could try for another kiss on the lips. But her gaze was causing the Doctor's ears to start to tint pink. Realizing this, the Doctor stood up quickly from the Jump seat, breaking the spell between the two of them and began to busy himself about the console. That had been very domestic and he had had met his quota for domestics today. Though the Time Lord probably wouldn't have yet admitted that if he had stay sitting there, he might have been the one to unknowingly claim the reward Rose was fixing to give him. Rose let out a sigh, and decided that that was her signal to go off to her technically-theirs-but-now-hers bedroom. She was feeling really drained and a bit dizzy from the adventure and a few hours of sleep would do her good. And expecting the Doctor, even after their near death experience, to want to spend time with her at least lying in the same bed with her was a bit too much to expect. He had let her kiss him as a last wish and that was enough for now.

"See you later Doctor, you know where I'll be if you need me." Stated Rose as she got up to leave, the Doctor waved his hand to Rose from behind the console and replied,

"And I'll be right here if you need to find me. By the time you're done with your human nap I should have the plasma coils hooked up and in sync with the time rotor. Sound a bit off, don't they? Well maybe you could hear it a little if you had the hearing of an earth kangaroo instead of a human. Funny critters kangaroos, big old ears that by coincidence are perfectly evolved for hearing plasma coil rotations, what are the odds, yeah?" Rose just laughed at him,

"Well with ears as big as yours, I imagine you don't miss much sounds anyway."

"Oi, rude. And I was going to say you hear pretty well for a…" The Doctor stopped himself, again he was belittling Rose based on her species again, he didn't want to keep doing that. He didn't want to keep reminding Rose of the distinctions between their species. The Time Lord fished his mind for compliments to give Rose that he wouldn't turn into back handed ones, but Rose cut in before he could pick the right one.

"For a human. Yeah I know, good night Doctor." Rose smiled weakly and left the console room. It was so funny to the Doctor, he had spent centuries around these humans and thought he knew everything about them, but this one little pink and yellow human had him stumped. Maybe one day he would figure her out.

**Author's note:** This was a super long chapter gang, and I hope it satisfied your Rose Doctor fix for the moment. The Doctor will have to face the wrath of his mother-in-law next in chapter 22, Aliens of London. In the next coming chapter it is okay if you want to light a match.


	22. Chapter 22

**Complicated**

by the Plot Thinens

Aliens of London –Chapter 22  
  
Rose woke up once more on the TARDIS. Although she had gotten nine hours of sleep this time instead of the designated eight, she did not feel rested. Her head was still aching and her mouth was dry as a bone. She figured that nearly being strangled on natural gas probably had not done a thing for her brain or her lungs. She felt it was very nice of the TARDIS to let her 'sleep in,' but the Doctor she reasons would be getting antsy having to wait for her much long. Feeling very out of it she bypassed her morning routine and opted to go to the kitchen first. She needed a glass of water and an aspirin very desperately. Rolling out of bed and clasping at her pounding head she made her way to the door to the 'hallway'. She was still wearing, as pajamas, a pair of the Doctor's shorts and undershirt or her 'nighties' as she had jokingly started calling them last night to herself. The TARDIS still didn't see fit to give her any actual bed wear yet, but as she was crawling out of bed she did notice that, at the foot of the bed this morning, her clothing she first arrived in were freshly laundered. She'd put those on later after her kitchen run.

The Doctor had sat at the breakfast table in the TARDIS's kitchen for a half hour now watching the port entrance to the kitchen. Annoyed he tapped his finger on the table with one hand while eating a slice of toasted banana bread with the other. Rose was late. He had timed specifically the amount of sleep that she needed for optimum human functionality and that was ten minutes ago, if you had to push it. He was frustrated with how now it seemed like he couldn't start his 'day' without first seeing her. When had that happened? He'd only known her as the Doctor for a few days now, was he experience a sort of 'phantom limb' effect from his days spent as John? Wasn't the TARDIS supposed to wake her up? The human woman had to be being stubborn about wakeup call today. He'd even made her breakfast, well by breakfast he meant he had not burnt the stack of toast currently cooling on the table and getting cooler by the minute. And he put out the butter, marmalade and a few other spreads too. That was bordering domestic as it was and he refused to ever be a domesticated Time Lord. He took a swig of banana strawberry milk and then got up from the table in a huff. It was just as well, he was being too domestic as it was. If Rose was going to sleep in then he wasn't going to wait around, there was work to be done on his TARDIS after all.

Rose groggily walked down the corridor that she knew led to the kitchen, but this time much to her surprise, it bypassed the kitchen completely and emptied out at the console room. She had literally rolled out of bed, she didn't want to prance about in the console room, and she had a damn headache and just wanted some water, what was the TARDIS playing at? What Rose didn't notice was that the Doctor was actually right below her under the grating of the TARDIS. He had been cleaning a filter in what appeared to be some kind of fluid line, when the vibrations of the metal above him grabbed his attention. Looking up he was quite surprisingly given a perfect view of Rose. Perfect meaning it was a completely unobstructed view of Rose in his shorts and loose undershirt. At this angle he saw right up the two before mentioned articles of clothing and Rose was not wearing anything else underneath them. It was perfectly understandable, she came with literally the clothes on her back and the Doctor didn't know if the TARDIS had given her anything else to wear besides period clothing and what was in his drawers. But logical thinking did not win out and the surprise made him off balance. The Doctor slipped on a cable and landed hard on the tubes below smearing himself in green-colored fluid causing him to swear loudly. Rose alerted to the noise looked down to see the Doctor on his back in what appeared to be pain.

"Doctor, are you alright?" She asked with concern while kneeling down for a closer look. Now that The Doctor's pride was hurt and he was laying in muck on his back, he didn't want to add to his misfortunes and seriously hoped that Rose had not realized that his accidental peeping Tom activities were to blame for his current state. Raising his head up off the floor he simply replied,

"Fine, fine, coming up." He got up and walked to the little door in the grating that would allow him to go up to Rose's level, all the while trying to focus on not hitting his head. Looking up at Rose who was following him from above and getting yet another perfect view, distracted, he hit his head before coming up. 'Fine morning this was' he thought as he clutched his head in pain. Rose having forgotten her pain for the moment focused on the Doctor's. John had always been a complete baby when it came to pain, she wondered if the Doctor was the same. Rose kneeled down next to the Doctor and examined the growing bump on his head. The Doctor having known in the past the devastating effects of head injuries, began to assess the damage too.

"Oi, that hurts!" complained the Doctor as Rose tested the sensitivity of the bump all the while not trying to get too close because he was covered in some strange green liquid. She also knew he had issues about personal space and him pulling away wouldn't help her assess the damage any better.

"Don't be such a baby." she chided to her technically-still-her-husband. Rose had gotten many scratches and bumps growing up and her mother had always been able to make her feel better with her 'healing arts' which Rose now mimicked. Having without a doubt located the sore spot she gently blew on it and then told the Doctor,

"It doesn't look so bad, here let me kiss it and make it feel better." She said without thinking and acted as such, but not before the Doctor said in a gruff voice,

"Oi, like that's really going to work." However, no sooner did he say that and Rose's lips had made contact with the bump, to his amazement it did feel better. Much better, he stared at her astonished, something about the calming way she had paid attention to him and spoken had relaxed him enough for his blood pressure to go down, which seemed to help lowering the swelling of blood to the bumped area. She didn't really 'kiss it and made it feel better,' but the human manner of addressing what was probably a most upsetting situation had allowed his body to go back to the pre-shocked state and the pain in his head was just a dull ache now that he had calmed down. His superior biology had probably helped too, but he admired Rose's bedside manner or mothering nature he guessed. 'She wouldn't make a half shabby mother.' Thought the Doctor. Of course now that he had his wits about him and realized the implications that he could possibly be implying with his accidental line of thoughts, even if it were at all possible, he blushed and got up to his feet. Rose was surprised by the quick movement and got up along with him as steady as she could, but now that she wasn't in rescue mode she began to remember how dizzy and in pain her head was. Perhaps she should carry a gas mask with her at all times now, maybe the Doctor, as an alien, didn't feel the same affect from air poisoning as her human body did since he appeared fine. She felt very sorry if Mister Dickens were feeling the same way right now…then…whenever.

"Come on Doctor, I have a headache and you a bump, yeah? Anywhere on the TARDIS can we find a bottle of Aspirin?" She asked innocently. The Doctor's face paled,

"Nope, no Aspirin anywhere on this ship, never aspirin. If you want anything else in the universe we have it but not that stuff." Piped up the Doctor. Rose was confused by his obvious dislike for the pain killer and asked,

"Why is that?" The Doctor looked at Rose and a twinge in the back of his head told him not to ever give a weakness out to anyone. But the Doctor was trying to prove to Rose that he trusted her and well maybe one item in the list of thousands of ways to kill him wasn't too bad of a secret. So with a deep breath he replied,

"Rose, Time Lords are allergic to Aspirin. It might as well be time lord cyanide." Rose gasped in horror, and amended her suggestion immediately.

"Right, let's find something else then." She corrected. The Two then made their way to the kitchen for a glass of water, some pain relievers, oh and Rose's breakfast.

"You know Doctor you could also do with a bath afterwards that stuff on your shirt smells." Laughed Rose as they entered the port to the kitchen. The Doctor merely grumbled that he could just sonic it clean and the 'day' was started for the Doctor and Rose.

The TARDIS materialized in a corner near one of the buildings that made up the Powell estate. Rose was the first to pop out of the TARDIS followed by, although a bit reluctantly, the Doctor. This was not one of his most favorite places in all of Time and Space but Rose had insisted upon wanting to see her mother. How domestic they were being, making trips to her mother's house. Next they'd be using the TARDIS for popping by the market for eggs and milk if this kept up. Rose slowly twirled around to re-familiarize herself with the space and that they were in the right place. The Doctor had already proven that he could get the place wrong but everything to a casual glance appeared to be in order from the last time she was there. She smiled and turned to the Doctor who was leaning against the doors of the TARDIS.

"How long have I been gone?" she asked her technically-still-her-husband.

"Well we've been gone about 48 hours, but to your dear old Mum you've only been gone about twelve." Declared the Doctor a bit proud of his driving. Rose smiled again, the concept still unbelievable to her.

"Oh. Right, perfect. I won't be long. I just want to see my mum." Rose replied starting to take off. Her jog however was stopped by the Doctor asking her a question.

"What're you going to tell her?" he asked a bit concerned. Still walking away but backwards to face him she laughed,

"I don't know. I've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what, 12 hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night playing nurse-maid to you after breaking her coffee table. Which by the way we still have to replace." Then she took a more serious tone and raised her voice as she was now getting a good distance away.

"If that TARDIS can provide anything then bring a new one up for her, yeah? See you later. Oh, don't you disappear." Declared Rose as she walked off but her sentence did end with a little insecurity. They had been through a lot together and had seemed to have reconciled as trusted friends for the most part. But in truth she still wasn't 100 percent confident that the Doctor wouldn't just leave her behind if he lost interest. After all he had all of time and space to offer, she didn't have anything as impressive as that to offer in return. The Doctor smiled as he watched her disappear up a stairwell to her mother's flat and began to walk about the pavement already impatiently pacing. In search of anything less boring to do then stare at the pavement he looked to a brick wall across the way covered in flyers. It was then that his very keen Time Lord eyes locked in on a picture of Rose on a piece of old weather worn paper. He pulled it off the wall and on closer inspection he read the words, 'Police Appeal for Assistance. Can You Help?'

Rose took in the familiar smell of her mother's flat as she opened the door, the smell of tea and hair products that her mother used as a hair dresser working out of her home. It was amazing how smells that you took as granted became so pronounced when you were away for a bit. She couldn't wait to give her mother a great big hug. She didn't know how much or if anything she would tell her mother yet of her trip, without proof at least, but right now all she cared about was that hug. She knew her mother had been fine after the Auton attack but this was her first time seeing her after it and the emotion of her mother having been in danger was still a bit raw. With joy in her voice announced to the flat,

"I'm back! Are you in? Sorry about leaving you alone last night and about the table Mum. We got you a new one. John picked it out so when he brings it up you better like it. So, what's been going on?" That's when Rose's mood changed, having made eye contact with her mother. Rose saw that Jackie was staring at her in shock and had appeared to be struck dumb and mute and was just standing there looking more worn out then ever in her pink bathrobe. Nervous, Rose looked to start a conversation,

" How've you been? What? What's that face for? It's not the first time I've had to cancel dinner or broke something." Smiled Rose anxiously. Jackie dropped her mug of tea on the floor not seeming to care that it was her favorite mug and it smashed into pieces.

'Crap' thought the Doctor' as he saw the date on the paper. The poster's print read 'Rose Tyler has been missing from home since 6th March 2005 last seen on the Powell Estate.' Having finished reading he then quickly ran for the stairwell Rose had gone up and flew up the stairs. He had major damage control to sort out.

"It's you." Stated Jackie as if she didn't believe her own words or her own eyes. Rose looked back at her mother nervous and replied,

"Of course it's me."

"Oh, my God. It's you. Oh my God." Cried out Jackie in disbelief and Jackie threw herself into Rose's arms as if she might die if she didn't. Rose could clearly see that her mother was upset and that made Rose very upset too. As her mother clung to her she couldn't help but notice the disarray the apartment was in from the last she had been in it, which she thought had only been twelve hours. All about the flat were various flyers and posters to aid in helping find a missing person. That missing person, much to her shock, was Rose Tyler Smith! Rose felt she might fall over as she came to the realization that she most certainly had been gone longer than twelve hours. And as if to validate her suspicions that was when the Doctor decided to come barreling in with bad news.

"It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." The Doctor said meekly to Rose and Jackie, what else could he say? And Rose was floored.  
It wasn't long before Jackie's relief and astonishment gave way to all out fury and indignation of Rose and John's return. Naturally when Rose and her husband could not provide any explanation to their disappearing for a year, other than that they were traveling, Jackie took action and called the police. That was when the Doctor found himself sitting in the Tyler flat with a policeman asking him and Rose personal questions. The domestics never ended with these humans, but for the sake of not getting thrown into a primitive earth jail and having to possibly answer more troubling questions, he stood there and took it. Jackie was passing up and down the flat fuming at Rose as she hunkered down into an arm chair, taking her mother's verbal assault. Although she didn't mean to do this to her mother, she knew that she deserved it and retreated further into the chair.

"The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer." Bellowed Jackie, she then turned her attention to the cop and demanded,

"You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling." Rose was in a bind, she couldn't give details as to where she was. No one would believe her. All she could do was tell what part of the truth she could so she didn't get put into a white jacket.

"That's what I was doing." Rose explained but she was more like pleading for Jackie to accept that information and drop it.

"When your passport's still in the drawer? You never picked it up when you moved out! And I checked at the university, old big ears here just stopped coming to work! No sabbatical, nothing, you don't just swan off in the middle of the term when you're in teaching! And when I tried to dig up information on em there was nothing to find beyond what was filed at the university. I didn't know what to think. It's just one lie after another with you!" Shouted Jackie so loud Rose was sure the neighbors would be talking about this one for weeks to come. Rose was very upset for the whole situation and what she had to continue doing, lie to her mother to protect her husband, was eating a whole through her.

"I meant to phone. I really did. I just I forgot." Was all Rose could say. Jackie could not believe this, nothing was matching up. She could not believe that her daughter, her baby girl, could be this cruel or forgetful unless she had really done a bad job raising Rose up on her own. Even when she was with that bastard Jimmy Stone, she at least called once in a while, before Jackie managed to help save her from that abusive environment.

"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?" Jackie begged her daughter. Jackie just wanted to know where she'd been, why was that so difficult? What had she been through that was so terrible? It had to be some form of foul play. Foul play and her gut told her now that this rotter of a man that Rose called her husband was at the center of it. Had he made her do things she didn't want to do? Or involve her in something dangerous and now she was only allowed to see her mother again, if she stuck to guidelines? And was that why he was hovering around her. She knew that there was something fishy all along, maybe John was just trying to trap her little girl for some horrible reason that she couldn't imagine, but several nasty ideas were stewing around Jackie's head. He had run up the stairs really fast trying to catch up to Rose. Maybe Rose was trying to get a message out before John caught up. Maybe she was too afraid to talk even in front of the policeman. Oh what horrible things had befallen her Daughter?

"Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, brought Rose on as my companion for a bit of traveling." Explained the Doctor, trying to take some of the responsibility for Rose's actions. It hurt him to see her getting verbally attacked for something she couldn't have helped. She had been the one being the devoted daughter wanting to come back and see mummy.  
"When you say companion, what defines companion to you in this relationship you have with your wife? What was the nature of this trip? Your mother-in-law expressed on the phone you might have been holding your wife against her will. And your wife's reluctance to give any details might suggest that she was coerced to do something against her will that might be illegal. So I guess what I'm getting at is, was this trip of an unusual sexual nature?" Asked the Cop though the last question was aimed at the diminished figure of a woman in the chair across from him.

"No!" shouted the Doctor and Rose in unison.

"Then what is it? If you go along traveling you don't keep it a secret! You send postcards! I didn't even know where you were or who you were with Rose! For all I knew you could have been dead, the both of you could have been kidnapped or sold into the sex trade by this one here!" Bellowed Jackie pointing an accusatory finger and the Doctor. Rose dug herself so far into the arm chair she could feel the springs digging into her back. She then got up into the Doctor's face and hissed,

"Would have been a little less suspicious of you, big ears, if your records weren't so lacking! Couldn't even find your records of your doctorates at your universities! Checked your house and all you had were diplomas that looked real but turns out they weren't! That's when I started suspecting you! Because you, you waltz into Rose's life out of the blue, all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! What's your game? Do you stalk poor pretty young things and sweep em off their feet with the promise of a settled, stable, happy family life and trap em? Did you pretend you're a doctor to impress young women?" The Doctor just stood flabbergasted and all he could say was the truth.

"I am a Doctor." He explained all the while looking like a deer in the headlights.

"Prove it. Stitch this, mate!" Shouted Jackie who promptly smacked the Doctor hard across the face. 'And welcome to the family' thought Rose exasperated. The Doctor had been hit with such force he had been thrown to the floor of Jackie's flat. Clutching his injured cheek and jaw he looked up into the murderous eyes of his technically-still-his-mother-in-law, and he wouldn't admit it, but he was afraid. It wasn't like he could fight back or defend himself if she decided to go for a killing blow next. And to be honest, he probably would deserve it too. He didn't think she would be angry enough to assault him in front of an officer of the law, in fact he wasn't expecting it at all. And that was pretty dumb, he was seriously underestimating the anger of a mother denied her child for a year. Rose tried to get up to help the Doctor off the ground but the Policeman, clearly more used to this sort of thing, was already breaking up the fight and at the Doctor's side. Rose helped keep Jackie away from the Doctor and sat her down fuming on the couch, while the Officer helped the Doctor to a sitting position.

"Are you alright sir? Nothing broken?" the Policeman asked with concern. The Doctor indicated that he was fine and just looked over to Rose and her mother. He hated domestics, especially domestic disturbances, how much more Jerry could his life and this situation get?

The officer hated coming to the Powell Estate as he was forever dealing with family drama, this case was a little more unusual with the sudden return of a woman presumed dead. But as not being dead wasn't a crime nor was disappearing, he didn't know why he was here except as a cheap family therapist or mediator. If the mother's behavior was any indicator to this outsider, it was no wonder why her gold digging daughter would want to clear off with her cradle robbing husband and not tell mummy. Oh he could write books. But she did think her daughter was dead and clearly she was directing her anger at her daughter's husband for it, but the daughter was a big girl and if she wanted to she could have called in the first place. Probably would have wasted less police hours but mistakes can be made when people go off traveling. The Doctor wiped some spit that had accumulated in the side of his mouth from his face and the officer spoke again,

"Sir, do you want to press charges for the assault?" The Doctor locked eyes with Jackie who looked right back at him like a tiger ready to protect her cub. The Doctor wasn't intimidated anymore, just irritated, and said to the officer.

"No, she's just upset, besides it wasn't that hard anyway."

"Oh, I'll give you another if you like, you dirty old git!" Shouted Jackie from her seat. Rose held down her mother, clearly she didn't realize that the Doctor was probably just trying to belittle the assault so that the police would leave them alone. The accusations about faking being a doctor were interesting to the copper, but just being hearsay from a hysterical council estate woman without evidence to back it up didn't seem worth him personally pursuing at the moment, he had enough cases on his plate without looking for more. When the Officer had established that Jackie wasn't being arrested and that she did not want anyone removed from the property, he gladly left the unusual family. Rose by that time had the Doctor sitting on the couch with an icepack to his cheek; she was worried it would bruise. She then went to join her mother in the Kitchen.

Now that Jackie had the opportunity to get her aggression out on something, i.e., the Doctor's face, she was feeling more mothering and less like mother bear. She was hugging her daughter fiercely, wanting to protect her from any harm.

"Did you think about me at all?" ask Jackie begging to be told that it wasn't the case that she was forgotten by her only daughter for a whole year. Rose pulled away to look at her mother and they were both in tears. Rose couldn't have felt anymore terrible for what she unknowingly put her mother through and with a shaky teary voice she replied,

"I did. All the time, but…" She was interrupted by her mother's imploring tone as she declared,

"One phone call. Just to know that you were alive." Rose sniffled more and retreated into herself. She couldn't even bring herself to look her mother in the eye. Her mother had thought she was dead. She watched programs about when people go missing and what the families go through. It was bad enough when you had a few immediate family members to help you through such a horrible thing. But when she thought about what her mother went through alone, possibly thinking that she out lived her whole family, both dead and taken before their time, Rose wanted to fall on the floor in remorse. 'Oh god, did she have to look at unidentified bodies that turned up and ID them? Did she go through hospitals and morgues looking for her? ' Rose asked herself. The thought of her mother looking at a decomposing body and having to scrutinize if it was her daughter Rose, turned Rose's stomach. She actually had to swallow back down some chunks that came up her throat.

"I'm sorry. I really am." Murmured Rose as her mother raised Rose's chin up to look her in the eye,

"Do you know, what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?" Begged Jackie and Rose felt even worse. There was no way she could tell what really happened and keep the Doctor safe. And she hurt for all the worry she put her mother through and all the possible scenarios that had run through her mother's head for a year. She felt like the worst daughter ever.  
She had kept quiet while the policeman had been in the flat, any answer she gave would have just led to more questions but not that they were alone she at least had to alleviate some of the ideas in Jackie's head.

"Mum, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I hope you can believe that. But all those things you said about John, it hurts me too that you would say that to him. I know you are angry at us but please just be angry at me. All those things you said any bad idea or thoughts you have about John, I promise you it's not true. Far from true, John is a good man." Explained Rose as if she were begging a judge not to execute her husband. Rose didn't know if Jackie believed her or not, she thought Rose was lying about a lot of things and she was. But for the moment she relented and hugged her daughter, breathing in the scent she thought she'd never smell again. Rose told her mother that she and John were going out for some air but they promised that they would be back in just a little while. Jackie was reluctant to let her out of her sight but eventually she relented, however they had to be back in an hour.

Rose and the Doctor wanting air and solitude after the whole ordeal with Jackie and the police were up on the roof of the apartment building. They needed to talk and now had to deal with something that was very domestic and the Doctor wasn't at all pleased with it. And that was how Rose's real life as a 21st century human and its attachments worked in with Rose's life as the unexpected space bride of a time traveling alien. Rose was sitting on a partition in the roof with her legs pulled up to her chin while hugging them. She would have really liked her husband to hold her right now, but just him standing next to her was comfort enough. She was grateful that he didn't just run back to hide in the TARDIS after the way her mother had acted. Although it was very justifiable as to why she had behaved that way.

"I can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?" asked Rose of her time traveling husband.

"Middling." He said as if he were commenting on the weather.

"You're so useless." Rose said flippantly annoyed. The Doctor realized that this was going to be a problem if Rose couldn't decide which life she wanted to commit to, because things like this happening were a possibility and she needed to understand that.

"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?" Asked the Doctor, part of him wanted to be nonchalant and uncaring about her staying or going, but another and growing stronger part of him was afraid that she'd say 'yes'. Rose briefly had the image of the Doctor being like a Lorry driver going away for weeks and coming home to the wife and kids once in a while between jobs, but brushed that away as ridiculous. And who knew if he'd even come back to visit if she did let him go alone. She knew she didn't want to be separated from him. But she didn't want to break her mother's heart again either.

"I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though." Sighed Rose to the Doctor as she put her hands on her forehead.

"Well, she's not coming with us." Stated the Doctor very plainly, making it quite clear that he was never planning on traveling with the mother of a companion, or his mother-in-law. The two looked at each other and the very idea of Jackie coming with them made them both burst out laughing And Rose very much agreed with the Doctor.

"I don't do families." The Doctor declared to Rose in a grumpy voice, while waving his arm for effect.

"Tough you're in one, now." Laughed Rose as she threw her head back and then snickered again,

"She slapped you!" The Doctor looked quite affronted and crossed his arms and held his chin just a little higher to show his indignity.

"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother." Complained the Doctor. He was thoroughly annoyed by how domestics it all was. He wasn't some teenager's boyfriend that kept someone's little girl out all night after all.

"Let alone mother-in-law." He said the last part under his breath so Rose wouldn't hear.

"Your face." Laughed Rose at the memory of the look on the Doctors face as he looked up from the floor at the irate Jackie. It had caused her to smirk a bit. Sure she had been concerned for him, but watching the stuck up almighty time lord be dealt such a blow from her mother, an ape just like her, she couldn't help but see the humor in it. Apparently Time Lords like all other blokes were no match for an angry mother bear.

"It hurt!" The Doctor whined to his technically-still-his-wife, while rubbing his cheek as it was still sore.

"You're such a cry baby. Say, when you say nine hundred years, you mean really, you're 900 years old?"

"That's my age." Explained the Doctor to his twenty year old wife, well twenty-one now if you wanted to pretend she didn't skip a year.

"You're nine hundred years old. And you weren't just sayin' that earlier to repel me when you were arguing with Jack, yeah?" Asked Rose in disbelief, sure that she had heard wrong. The Doctor answered the affirmative and Rose looked down to the ground, gave out a deep breath and fully took in that information.

"My mum was right all along. That is one hell of an age gap, and to think I first thought that forty was too old for me. Well then, I married you when I thought you were 20 years older, what's 880 years more." Declared Rose while the Doctor thought sarcastically, 'well at least she doesn't hold that against me.' Rose wondered how old 900 years was considered for his species. He might actually be young for his race and if that were the case then hell he might out live her after all. She got up and walked a ways to the edge of the roof and stared out at the city.

"Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist." Rose said in a serious tone but it was coming off as a bit dramatic too. The Doctor even sensed that she might feel privileged over other humans by just knowing him, not that he could blame her. He was rather fantastic.

Suddenly Rose and the Doctor's little world of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of what only could be described as a giant truck horn. The two felt something coming up behind them and ducked soon enough to see a giant smoking spaceship flying or rather falling over their heads. The mammoth spaceship looked like it was in trouble and crashing as it headed for the city in front of the two time travelers. It then circled around the city once before crashing one of its wings into Big Ben before splashing into the Thames. Rose and the Doctor stared dumbfounded as they watched a pillar of smoke off in the distance that most likely was the crash site of the spaceship. Rose was certainly no longer the only human being to her knowledge that knew about aliens and had seen aliens.

"Oh, that's just not fair." Stated Rose a little miffed, she would have liked to have been the sole holder of that information for just a bit longer. The Doctor just laughed, grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her in the direction of the next adventure.

The Doctor and Rose had high tailed it down the stairwell and on the same breath of air had ran across the Powell estate and down the road for a better look at the crash if it was possible. The ship was now miles away and had disappeared behind the buildings of London. But when they arrived they found that the army, in an attempt to maintain order, had closed down the roads much to the annoyances of every motorist for miles. The air was filled with the sounds of horns blaring and humans cursing their misfortunes. Soldiers shouted at people to stay back and the Doctor and Rose could travel no further without stirring up unwanted trouble with the military.

"It's blocked off." Said the Doctor declaring the obvious. Rose looked around at the chaos surrounding her and was floored.  
"We're miles from the centre. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down." Declared Rose astonished.

"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" Grinned the Doctor as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. Rose was shocked by his surprised mannerisms. She assumed that since he was a time traveler he knew when every major event was going to happen.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Questioned Rose.

"Nope." He laughed while jumping up as if it would help him see down the miles of gridlocked traffic better. Well maybe he at least knew the species that they would soon be making first contact with. She doubted it would be Vulcans like on Star Trek.

"Do you recognize the ship?" She inquired very eager for an answer.

"Nope." Answered the Doctor quickly, only adding to Rose's frustration at the lack of information and she tried again,

"Do you know why it crashed?" The Doctor once more gave the same response and Rose rolled her eyes. She had her very own personal alien spouse and he was as clueless as she was. Exasperated she said in a very sarcastic voice,

"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you." 'As she should,' thought the Doctor not catching her sarcasm. Without him she would be even more clueless and probably freaking out along with the rest of the apes around her. And still ever the excited little boy he crowed,

"I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us."

'Then why were they wasting time here?' thought Rose as she looked around her at the people literally locked into place by their cars. They had the sweetest ride in the universe after all!

"Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS." Declared Rose. The Doctor still looking on at history happening before him, said off to the side,

"Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top." That would be too much for these humans, he didn't want them to assume that it was an invasion. As when one finds one alien ship their minds will no doubt search for another. Rose couldn't understand the Doctor's logic though, the TARDIS looked like anything but a spaceship. Let alone an alien one. What was the concern?

"Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice." She reasoned to the Doctor. He was unwavering in his decision and announced,

"You'd be surprised. Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The Tardis stays where it is." Rose realizing now that they were grounded, playing the waiting game, and having as much knowledge and access to the new discovery as anyone else, sighed and let her shoulders slump down in defeat.

"So history's happening, we can't use the TARDIS and we're stuck here with nothing else to do."

"Yes, we are." The Doctor confirmed still smiling off into the distance as people around him started complaining now that they were slightly over the initial shock and focused on the mundane pain of being stuck in traffic.

"Well then," said Rose with her tongue poking out of her mouth and looking at the Doctor. The Doctor didn't want to admit it but when she did that tongue poking out thing, he liked it. And John had too if his accessed memories from his human incarnation were any clue. It also usually meant that Rose had something else in mind that usually involved staying put locked up in one room for the rest of the day. The Doctor didn't know what was coming over him but suddenly he could think of nothing else than role playing the last night that John had seen Rose behave in the manner that he was recalling.

"We could always do what everybody else does, when there is nothing else you can do." Said Rose a little breathily, though she might have still been a bit winded from their run down the stairs and across the estate to where they currently were. But she was also a mess of crazy adrenaline from all that had just happened and that was messing with the Doctor's senses. Now the Doctor was really nervous that his imagination wasn't running and his instincts on exactly what Rose was going to demand of him, by her rights as his technically-still-his-wife, was spot on. And what scared him was that the more time he spent with this human the less that sounded like a bad thing and it wasn't like they could just go back to the TARDIS for alone time as long as it didn't go anywhere. Memories of very nice time spent with Rose as John alone also danced to the front of his traitorous mind.

"And what is that?" asked the Doctor with a rumble in his voice that Rose didn't catch. He probably would end up turning the idea down, as an alien crash landing wasn't a good time to engage in such activities, but it wasn't any damage to his ego for her to make the suggestion. And much to the Doctor's disappointment, though he never would admit it, she answered,

"We could watch it on TV."

**Author's Notes:** If my science in the TARDIS scene doesn't match up, I'm sorry but I just thought it was sweet. Now we start going off script more as you can see. Hope you like it. The doctor has to deal with family friends in the coming chapter. Next chapter's title is, **It's like there's a Party on my Planet and everyone's invited! **As usual comments are appreciated. Let's me know if you're reading cause I'm having trouble figuring out that graph thingy.


	23. Chapter 23

**Complicated**

by The Plot Thinens

It's like there's a Party on my Planet and everyone's invited! –Chapter 23

Inside the Tyler's flat the Doctor and Rose were glued to the television which was now saturated in alien reports and hysteria over the latest E.T. sightings. Big Ben's destruction was big news and panic was all about, though surprisingly not as much as the Doctor thought. But give it time and they would go completely crazy as the news hyped things up more, like the danger level, for ratings. America had grounded all flights to help look for UFOs, because if there is an alien invasion they have to go for America, right? The Doctor thought rolling his eyes. Another channel and some pretty boy with too much product in his hair was on next tell that divers were being sent into the crashed spaceship. An American channel informed that their leader was assembling to address their respective nation and the Secretary General of the United States was now telling Americans to watch the skies. 'See I was right that the TARDIS should stay put.' Thought the Doctor. 'Now every itchy triggered fingered human was going to be spooked that everyone was an alien' sighed the Doctor to himself. He certainly wouldn't be visiting any gun friendly countries anytime soon, last thing he wanted was to end up on some drunken hillbilly ape's wall.

Unfortunately, the two could not distract themselves completely with television. The mood in the apartment was like being in an enemy camp as prisoners. Rose sat in the arm chair a few feet away from the Doctor who was brooding over the primitive entertainment screen. Rose didn't want to antagonize her mother by sitting too close to him right now, Jackie was still upset with the Doctor. She had forgiven her daughter for the most part as Jackie was still very sure that John must be to blame for the radio silence and not her daughter. She had heard some whispers later on in the investigation of Rose's disappearance that attackers from the school had singled out her daughter and her husband at the gathering they had attended. From all accounts most of the people at the party had been driven nutty from the attack based on the descriptions they gave. Some even claimed that they were after John. But one of the attackers was a student on campus who was also a pupil of John's so he might have just been taking a familiar hostage. Some even implied that maybe John had mob ties that he was trying to escape from, and had been 'whacked' that night. She had brushed off such claims as ridiculous since she had seen the two alive and well right after the attack. Sloppy mobsters then, no one seemed to have a straight sane answer of what happened that day. There were reports of people being disintegrated too. Which was unbelievable, it sounded like some alien horror film. But now that aliens had shown up, the idea of John being on the run from something and dragging Rose selfishly with him seemed more relevant. Either way she was sure John was not what he appeared to be, despite what Rose claimed, and that he was a danger to her only daughter. 'If he loved her at all he'd just disappear and take his troubles with him.' She thought bitterly.

Jackie was carrying two mugs of tea into the sitting area of the apartment. She had been loud and caused enough of a scene for the whole floor to hear and her friend Ru, an Asian woman about the same age as Jackie, was now a guest in the flat as well. Ru accepted the mug and stared daggers and the Doctor and Rose. The Doctor pretty much ignored Ru, but Rose could feel each icy glare cut through her. Jackie walked up to her daughter and with somewhat cold but still motherly affection handed the warm mug to her daughter. Rose gratefully accepted, welcoming any form of comfort at the moment. Ru had been one of Jackie's only sources of comfort over the year and had been a great help in trying to locate Rose. Now that Rose was back and seemingly run off with this older man she was done being quiet. She knew that this cradle robber was Rose's husband, but she was sure that that had been a youthful mistake. Ru was on the same line of thinking as Jackie, having overheard the whole police investigation two hours ago through her wall. She was certain that sweet Rose, who she had watched grow up would never cut off all ties to her mother for a year without being coerced to do so. Would she? Even when Jackie had lamented on Jimmy Stone and her daughter's relationship living with him, Rose had still called at least three times a week. Then again Jackie and John never really got along either, could Rose have cut her off out of spite, choosing her husband over her own mother? Rose had run off before, so Ru knew that she was capable of that, maybe cutting off ties was the next step. Either way that man sickened Ru for what he had put Jackie through and for what he must have done to keep or convince Rose to stay away from her mother. She looked at the Doctor and shouted to Jackie but to be heard by all in the flat,

"What is he still doing here anyway? Stealing your daughter away! And you dearie, he better have had you locked in a room without a phone, the things you put your mother through! How come you're letting him sit there and relax in your home, Jackie? After what he did?!" The Doctor certainly did not look relaxed thought Rose and remarks that Ru, a woman who Rose considered sort of like an honorary aunty, made was mortifying Rose and only made her feel all the more guiltier and embarrassed as it seemed to be clear that her family life was an Estate wide scandal. How was she to defend him from all this, so he wouldn't be choked in the domestics that he hated so much? She was surprised that he had taken this much so far and hadn't run for the TARDIS after the slap. Jackie unlike earlier had taken up a passive aggressive stance now, and ever the victim declared,

"I've got no choice. If I want Rose in here, I have to tolerate that old gargoyle!" Ru couldn't believe how Rose was tormenting her mother in her opinion by making her have to play host to John and bellowed,

"You've broken your mother's heart. I cradled her like a child, while you were off with this old man here! Travelling, ha." Through guilt and the shouting Rose noticed that Jackie had got a mug of tea for everyone but the Doctor and looked to her questioningly. Jackie reading her daughter's wordless expression threw her nose up in the air and stated,

"I'm not going to make him welcome." The Doctor had finally had it with the screaming apes and shouted for them to be quiet because he was trying to listen to the television. The Doctor's back was still turned away from Jackie and Ru otherwise he would have noticed the simultaneous birds flipped to him by the two middle aged women. Rose just put her head in her hands and wondered when the mortification would end. Right now she wanted nothing more than to either retreat back to 'her' room on the TARDIS or if that was off limits, than her own former room in this flat.

Rose suffered under her friends and family's scrutiny for a few more hours but as anger changed into relief and maybe the crowd thought that she suffered enough, it became more of a 'welcome home party for Rose', Rose even started to enjoy the festivities herself. As night fall was coming and the work day was ending everyone around her was in more of a partying and drinking mood. The Powell estate was now alive with intoxicated and' getting there' residents some of which had collected in the Tyler flat to celebrate Rose's return, talk about the day's happenings and to oh yes celebrate first contact. The Doctor on the other hand had been no help to Rose earlier or now in engaging in making merriment. For the most part he was ignored since he didn't talk or do anything besides watch TV and Rose only had to make excuses for a few awkward questions here and there rather than the inquisition she had received earlier about her marriage and spouse. It would have been nice if the Doctor had backed her up so she didn't feel all on her own against the world though. Earlier when people were angry, it wasn't that he was taking all the abuse he had received, he was flat out ignoring it as if were the sound of dogs barking across the street. Several times a few of Jackie's friends had tried to engage him in conversation either to blame him for Rose's disappearance or to ask the secret of catching a pretty young thing with such awful looks. The latter of the two had actually been one person, a drunken neighbor of Jackie's, who was about the same age as the Doctor looked. Now if the Doctor had been still just John then he probably would have punched the guy. But besides rude he seemed harmless enough and all The Doctor cared about right now was that on the television it was being reported that a body had been discovered inside the crashed ship and was supposedly being brought out. The Doctor struggled to hear details over the din of people accumulated in the small flat. All they were talking about was who was dating who and who had the latest bargain, monkey's chattering in a zoo and the Doctor did all he could do, which was hunkered down.

The Doctor focused his rather large ears on the tiny speakers of the television and managed to learn that a Unit mortuary would be the resting place of the alien remains for the moment. Now he knew where to go if he wanted a personal look at the alien corpse. Unit, now there was an organization he hadn't thought about for a while, heck he was probably still on their payroll actually. In a brief moment of domestic insanity he wondered if he could collect on any of that money so that he could actually help pay for some things from Rose's time, if she needed them, now that he wasn't collecting a teacher's salary. Such a thought horrified the Doctor! Were the monkeys' talking in the room eating at his subconscious or something. Why would he even think that when thinking about Unit for the first time in a century?! Was he going native or spending too much time around the apes? 'Time Lord you are a Time Lord you don't care about currency hording!' screamed the Doctor in his head. It was then that he noticed that the television had changed to some child friendly cooking show. It was teaching you how to make your own cake shaped like a space ship, it was then that he realized some ape's child was sitting on the bit of the cushion not yet occupied on his arm chair and was grasping the remote. The Doctor annoyed wrestled the device from the child's sticky fingers and shooed him off to his mother across the room.

More news followed about the ineffectiveness of the Government in addressing the scared and confused population, the whereabouts of the Prime Minister. As well as the arrival of some Chairman of Parliamentary Commission Joseph Green at 10th Downing street, The Doctor didn't care, he wanted more info on the alien. Then noise around the Doctor from the apes got louder and he couldn't take it anymore. He was tired of sitting like a couch potato dealing with inferior news distribution when he had the TARDIS and he knew where to look and he was going to find out first hand. Quietly so as not to be noticed he made his way out of the flat, with any luck they would just think he was going to the bathroom and the leather clad storm cloud wouldn't be missed. Even Rose he didn't think noticed him, 'an easy feat for my superior Time Lord abilities.' smirked the Doctor to himself.

The Time Lord opened the flat door and felt the cool air on his skin, finally he had escaped the ape exhibit and was free to run about as he pleased! How did someone as fantastic as Rose stand all that stuff in there? Rose again. Why? There was an alien mystery to occupy his attentions and he was thinking about Rose. Why was he always thinking and being emotional about Rose? In fact, why did things have to be so wishy-washy with his emotions lately? He wanted just one mindset not this bouncing about on where he stood with the Rose situation. There were probably reasons for it. When he had Rose in the TARDIS to himself, the differences, the fact that he had fallen into their current situation with little to no say, some of the domestics didn't seem that bad. He made toast for her for Rassilon's sake! And in crazy moments the Doctor almost felt like he could see the Rose situation going somewhere and somewhere he wouldn't mind going. Maybe one human was all he could take, but when it wasn't his territory and he was brought into Rose's world that when any idea of domesticity and its appeal flew out the window. And he'd want to run away and never look back. Then he questioned what he was doing there with these apes, what was he doing there with Rose. One could probably call it 'marrying the family,' and the Doctor didn't know if he could stand linking himself on such a personal and domestic level with these apes that Rose called family, friends and fellow species members. It wasn't like he could just have one and not the other too, Rose had baggage and human's were social animals, if he just kept finding ways to keep her away from her family or her own time it wouldn't be any more good for her than a social wild animal forced to live in captivity in a cage by itself. No matter how nice the cage she would want out and to be with her own kind, after all he wanted to be with his again or at least still have the option. He wasn't going to kid himself that, if things had not changed, John would have been all she needed. She'd always need her mother and friends, you couldn't just cut her off from humanity. He exhaled hard. Being able to see the black open spaces of the universe outside of that tiny flat made him feel less cooped up and he could breathe again. The Time Lord walked away from the source of his confusion and irritation. He made it about three doors down from the Tyler flat before he was stopped by a familiar voice.

"And where do you think you're going?" Asked Rose of her technically-still-her-husband who she had among the festivities caught slinking out of the flat. Perhaps the Doctor's abilities were out matched by a spouse's watchful eyes. He had not moved from that spot all night, no matter how quiet, of course Rose would have noticed the change. She had been glancing over at him every minute for hours now. The Doctor realizing he was caught in the act of escaping turned around and smiled as innocently as he could and in a voice trying not to sound agitated said,

"Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all." Rose was hit by how differently what was normal for her and her kind was to the Doctor. She knew that it probably wasn't easy being married to a 'lesser species' and she couldn't help but be pained by the picture in her head of the Doctor sitting in a zoo exhibited among apes screaming and throwing fits all around him. Maybe he had enough of humoring Rose and was ready to move on to the next adventure in time and space without stupid crazy acting apes. Like her. No she had to get rid of that self-loathing for her species' 'primitive behaviors' as the Doctor seemed to see them. That wasn't fair to compare. It was just as hard for Rose being married to a cold, confusing and aloft 'superior' alien. She had saved him before and he said that he was worthy of him at least in one aspect already and that meant that she could prove his preconceptions of humans wrong. There had to be a way past his prejudices, it just need time.

The Doctor didn't know why he was feeling so disappointed about how the humans were behaving. Had he built up his expectations too much? It wasn't like he expected them to become mature and worldly or rather 'universely' over night with the realization of the obvious, that they weren't the only planet inhabiting species out there. Maybe he was being unfair and expecting too much these apes, but a little humble reflection instead of hard drinking and partying would be nice. Maybe he should just be happy that no witch hunts for aliens in the general area seemed to be happening yet. Anyway, Rose didn't seem to be buying his excuse of just getting some fresh air.

"Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering." Stated Rose with skepticism, famous last words of your spouse before they up, run off and leave you.

"Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, color of smoke, everything. It's perfect." Declared the Doctor with a manic grin. Rose wondering what he was getting at with his unusual lack of meddling in the affairs of time and space asked,

"So?"

"So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand." He cheered shaking his gently fisted hands in front of him, a little excited for her species. Though Rose couldn't help but still get an uneasy feeling off him like he wanted to run away and be anywhere else. She felt like if she let him go she wouldn't see him again. Noticing her unsettled look the Doctor smiled and said very gently like he were talking to a skittish animal,

"You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum." Rose smiled at the thought of spending time with her mother and being encouraged to do so, but then she got worried again as he turned and started walking away.

"Promise you won't disappear?" She asked nervously, the Doctor rolled his eyes though Rose couldn't see. What now he need his technically-still-his-wife's permission to come and go as he wanted? He was a Time Lord and did what he wanted. He turned to Rose but when he saw the worry in her eyes something in him actually cared that she was worried about where he was going and when, if ever, he would be coming back. What could he do to ease Rose's tension enough for her to let him go? He thought to himself. What did Earth blokes do? He could still leave if he wanted and never look back, he kidded himself, but what could he give her as insurance that he would come back just to get her off his back? All the gruff and cold thoughts he could run in his head however did not get rid of the excitement he felt as he decided what he could do. He could extend more trust.

"Tell you what. Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later." Declared the Doctor as he handed the metal key on a chain to Rose. That's what Earth blokes did, give their Sheila the keys to the castle, or in this case the TARDIS. If he had been thumbing through John's memories more carefully he would have noticed at that second that he had done something similar with the very same human back when he was an ape. Though it wasn't until after he was heading down the darkened stairwell that he remembered the day John had given his girlfriend, Rose, the keys to his very nice home. He'd even give Rose bathroom, spare bed, and kitchen privileges too. John couldn't bear the thought of Rose walking to the bus station after a late night shift or taking the night bus home alone after the circumstances that brought about their first 'date.' He had not been so bold to offer to share a bed, John had been a gentleman, but after a few weeks and they both had grown comfortable enough, Rose was a guest in his bed after the end of every late night shift she worked. Of course pretty soon after that she was a resident every day and night too at 'their' home. The Doctor laughed, that had been the only thing that Jackie hadn't objected to the fact that John was a home owner, was a multiple home owner now technically, he then made his way to the TARDIS.

Rose looked at the piece of metal that the Doctor had just handed her. It looked just like the key she had seen him use to open the TARDIS before. He had handed it over as if it was nothing but the significance of this wasn't lost on her if this was indeed a key to the TARDIS as he said. This was his way of letting her know that he wasn't going to leave her behind. The TARDIS was a sophisticated sentient alien space ship and he had just given her, an ape, a key to open it. It was like finally getting the key to your boyfriend's flat, or rather house, all over again. Was this part of the next level of trust that he said he would try to show her? Was he so comfortable with her that without even thinking about it he trusted her with so much? That was how she knew last time the he trusted her with everything he had, back when he was John. You didn't just hand over the key to your lovely home to some young chav you thought was going to rob you blind. The key even looked a bit similar to the key to what was their home when they had been working on campus. Maybe The Doctor and John had similar tastes in some ways or it could be a coincidence. She at least hoped that it would turn out that they had the same taste in women.

The TARDIS was in sight now and he happily left the loud screaming apes to their partying. He was almost to the door, but little did he know that he had park his TARDIS below and across the way from one Mickey Smith. The man that had once been Rose's boyfriend and the one that the Doctor's TARDIS had thoroughly 'freaked out.' Mickey who had been airing his shoes out on the balcony looked out over the Powell Estate and saw the familiar blue box. He was a jumble of emotions at the sight of that box, but the desire to run towards it and find out what happened to Rose overpowered anything else. He barreled out of his apartment, not even bothering to lock it. Flew down the stairs and burst through the door into the open air. Mickey saw the Doctor had just walked in the space ship and called out to alien at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately for Mickey' especially his head, the Doctor did not seem to notice the man and began the dematerialization process. No longer having a blue box in front of him to enter, Mickey ran full force into the wall behind where the TARDIS had been and after hitting it fell to the floor. Poor Mickey now trying to regain his dignity and hoping that no one saw him run into a wall, tried to play and look cool. With nothing else to do he walked to Jackie's flat. Perhaps they had come back to talk to Jackie, oh he hoped that now Jackie had seen them and would realize that he had had nothing to do with Rose's disappearance.

The Doctor was inside his TARDIS where he felt most comfortable, alone in his sanctuary, away from anything not Gallifreyan in origin. The TARDIS was in flight but it was not happy at all and was giving the Doctor a hard time. She was refusing to cooperate and bring him to his destination, as if to ask "Where is the pink and yellow one?" The Doctor seemingly ignoring or unaware of this simply took a mallet to the part of the TARDIS console acting up and with a flicker from the time rotor the TARDIS was on its way. 'Fine,' thought the TARDIS, it didn't matter where they were going because after that whack, regardless of where her Time Lord wanted to go next she was going to deposit said Time Lord right in front of his human wife after the Doctor's little adventure was over.

**Author's Notes:** Hey all, Next chapter is called '**The Ex, the Alien-in-Law, and the Morgue Drawer.**' And as a reminder I don't mind comments if you have a chance, heh thanks. And before you say anything, yes I know not too much change of scenery in this chapter. But sometimes things have to move slow first to move faster.


	24. Chapter 24

**Complicated  
by the Plot Thinens**

The Ex, the Alien-in-Law, and the Morgue Drawer - Chapter 24

The TARDIS was now in one of the many supply closets of the Albion Hospital. The Doctor had arrived undetected so far and only had to endure the slight annoyance of a tight parking job as he locked the Yale lock and slipped by some unused equipment right in front of the TARDIS. The Doctor felt alive and in his element sneaking around as he pleased, free as a bird or bachelor again. Again? Now he was admitting he wasn't a bachelor anymore? He just wished his very big brain would come up with a definitive answer for the unusual circumstances that he and Rose were in. Did he love her or was he indifferent. Was he happier away from her or with her? The Time Lord made for the closet entrance and grumbled as his the Sonic Screwdriver made a bit more noise then he would have preferred. He decided to enjoy the experience and playfully shushed the noise before he journeyed onward.

Unfortunately for the Doctor onward meant a room full of Red Berets. For a few moments they stared at each other, hardly believing what the other was seeing. The Soldiers certainly weren't expecting any action but they would take it. In unison the soldiers grabbed their weapons and pointed then at the strange leather clad man. The Doctor was starting to feel that his day might turn pear shaped when the silence of the room was interrupted by the sound a woman's high pitched scream. The Doctor looked at the soldiers and the soldiers looked at him. The Doctor then decided to take authority and as he slipped past the soldiers shouted,

"Defense plan delta! Come on. Move! Move!" As a reflects at the sound of the command the soldiers followed close behind the Doctor as he raced out of the room to the scream's point of origin.

Inside the mortuary Doctor Sato cowered behind her desk as she tried to nurse the cut on her head while shakily holding a gun. Relieved to see members of her own species burst into the room she shrieked,

"It's alive!" The Doctor saw the empty morgue draw and put two and two together. Concerned for the woman on the floor the Doctor determined that Sato was shaken up but relatively unharmed. He turned to the unit soldiers collected at the door and barked,

"Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown." The Doctor breathed authority, but he was still a stranger to the soldiers, before they had been reacting to a cry for help but what gave him the power to order them around? Not having time to deal with a chain of command the Doctor again shouted orders over the scared Sato,

"Do it!" The soldier accepted his command and went about to execute his sensible orders. All about the building the soldiers' voices could be heard echoing the halls, clearing each room as threat free. While the Doctor interrogated Doctor Sato.

"I swear it was dead." Implored Sato to the Doctor, certain that her blunder had her in big trouble. The Doctor explained to her that the alien could have been in shock, a coma, hibernation, it didn't matter. What he wanted to know was,

"What does it look like?" Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the sound of metal clattering about in the very room they were still in. Realizing this the Doctor stood up and quickly made his way backward to the other remaining soldier who had stayed behind to watch the Doctor, just in case. The Doctor gestured to the soldier to come in and kneel by Doctor Sato while the Doctor had a better look. The Doctor crawled on all fours to the direction of the noise and very gingerly poked his head behind a filing cabinet to see what appeared to at first be a pig! A pig? A bipedal pig in a space suit. Intrigued the Doctor let go of the air he had been holding in and smiled to the creature,

"Hello." This did not have a calming effect on the creature at all and it ran from the Doctor squealing all the way. The pig ran out of the room and the Doctor shouted to the soldiers not to shoot but one did anyway. The poor thing fell to the ground fatally wounded. Catching up with the wounded alien the Doctor looked at the soldier, who had fired on the pig, with disgust and shouted,

"What did you do that for? It was scared! It was scared." The soldier looked at the Doctor with nothing to say, he was completely out of his element. When he had fired on the alien running at him he did not know that he would be made to feel guilty for doing it. The Doctor stroked the poor dying pig's face trying to give it some comfort before it died. It didn't deserve this especially now that he knew what it really was. Stupid humans and their stupid guns. Always shooting first and asking questions later. Couldn't they just for once in their ape-ish lives look at the world differently? Accepting life in all its forms instead of fearing and destroying it, how hard was that?

The Doctor with the help of the soldier that shot the pig carried the now dead creature back to the mortuary. After placing it down on the table the Doctor shot the soldier an icy look and he cowered away and left the room with many questions to himself about his actions. Sato now having bandaged her cut looked upon the creature again and explained to the Doctor,

"I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth." The Doctor with arms crossed and looking very stern and imposing declared with disgust,

"More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke." Sato was getting it now but she couldn't believe what it implied.

"So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor?" asked Sato but when she turned and looked up from the dead pig, the Doctor was nowhere to be found. Disappeared like a ghost. 'Who did this man think he was, Batman?' asked Sato of herself as she stared at the spot the Doctor had been. She walked out the door to the mortuary, perhaps he had gone out in the hall to make a phone call. Looking both ways down the hall she did not see the man, she called out to The Doctor, but her only answer was a breeze from nowhere and the most bizarre noise coming from an adjoining room. It was the TARDIS dematerializing.

The mood on the Powell estate, especially the Tyler flat was anything but dire. Everyone was on their third or fourth round. Hell, maybe fifth lots of people had stopped counting. Jackie raised her drink in a toast and declared to the noisy crowd,

"Here's to the Martians!" To which the rest of the guests made a toast to the Martians as well. Rose, who was not drinking, she didn't feel like it, rolled her eyes and was starting to wish that the Doctor were from Mars so at least for once the Doctor would have her mother's blessing. The atmosphere was celebratory until Mickey Smith walked into the flat through the open front door and stared at Rose on the sofa. He didn't believe his eyes. The whole room went dead quiet and Rose turned to see what was up. Locking eyes with Mickey, Rose felt terrible for having forgotten to call him. After all she had left him quite abruptly, strangely and for a whole year. She knew that she was in deep trouble with her ex-boyfriend-and-still-friend.

"I was going to come and see you." Piped up Rose, feeling quite guilty as she watched Mickey's hurt face. To which Ru declared,

"Someone owes Mickey an apology." Rose knew that she had quite a few things to apologize to her friend for and squeaked out that she was sorry for worrying him. Ru corrected Rose and said that it wasn't Rose who needed to apologize but Jackie. Jackie took up a defensive stance and clutching her glass of alcohol snipped,

"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think? It was either John or im."

Jackie, Rose and Mickey had moved into the small kitchen in the back of the flat to have a much overdue chat about the past year. Rose leaned on the sink while Jackie sat in a chair and watched Mickey pacing and fuming about the room. He then much to Rose's horror revealed the horrible situation that he had found himself in because of Rose disappearing.

"You disappear, and guess who's on the list of the people they turn to? Your husband, 'cept he's out of the picture. Can't find him, he might be missing too. So who's the next best suspect? Your 'jealous' ex-boyfriend, you dumped. Who by chance happens to be the last person seen with you alive on the Estate! Half a dozen witnesses saw you walk off with me a year ago. And it wasn't even me." He whispered the last part so that only Rose and not Jackie would hear. Rose retreated into herself more, she felt like garbage. You don't treat good friends like this, but it wasn't like she meant to leave for a year on purpose. It was an accident. She probably shouldn't have left Mickey so abruptly on her old street but it wasn't like she wasn't going off with someone she shouldn't be. The Doctor was technically-still-her-husband!

"Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there?" Mickey sneered and then pointed to Jackie.

"And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you." Rose had to defend herself at least a little and chirped,

"I didn't think I'd be gone so long."

"And I waited for you, Rose! Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back. I didn't know what he was going to do to you! I was worried Rose, I feared for you and that you would never come back!" Shouted Mickey, he then hissed in concern very quietly,

"He's not human, Rose. He lied to you! Tricked you! You can't trust him. You're going to end up hurt or worse!" Just then Jackie sat up and questioned,

"Hold on. You knew about the two of em swanning off? Why didn't you tell me?" Mickey noticing that the other house guests were listening in and closed the serving hatch to the kitchen, followed by the kitchen door.

"Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? You want to know why I couldn't tell? How could I tell her where you went with the liar?" Jackie demanded to be told what was going on and Mickey gladly obliged.

"I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away." Crowed Mickey. Rose looked stunned, she couldn't believe his words. Mickey had to be lying, but she'd never known him to lie. She must be misunderstanding something or she wasn't getting the meaning that Mickey was trying to get across.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose in disbelief. Mickey was usually a kind man but after a year of hell his patience and feel for being gentle with bad news was gone and he reveled in what he was about to say and finally make Rose see sense.

"He's left you, just like I said he would. Some husband he turned out to be." This was not right the Doctor wouldn't leave her, her John wouldn't leave her. Not now. But then again, he had left before but he always came back. Rose had tears in her eyes and raced out of the kitchen, grabbed her coat and ran out of the flat. She was going to go back to the TARDIS. She was done with this for the day and she just wanted to sleep in her own bed. The Doctor had just gone out like he said he had and the TARDIS was going to be right where they left it. And she was going to use her key to open the door to their home. Rose thought she heard Mickey and Jackie's voices following behind her but she was too focused on finding that blue box.

Rose ran to the last place she saw the TARDIS and much to her shock, Mickey had not lied. It was gone. Rose looked at the blank spot and shook her head in disbelief before declaring,

"He wouldn't just go, he promised me." Mickey found Rose's denial laughable and did laugh to himself as he stated in a voice that dripped with 'I told you so,'

"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space to find some other girl to steal. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it." Mickey's words cut into Rose but still she looked about for the TARDIS. It didn't make sense, she trusted the Doctor and if he was planning to go anywhere...

"He would have said." Stated Rose now only half paying attention to Mickey as he made more cracks like: 'why do aliens always seemed to be stealing Earth Women. Maybe it's because they got tired with the last one they stole.' 'Or hey at least he didn't eat you.' Jackie was now very confused by the two youths in front of her and very much wanted to be in on the joke already.

"What're you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this 'Doctor' John done now?" asked an irritated Jackie. How funny that her mother would say chimps, thought Rose, but she was still concerned about where her technically-still-her-husband had gone off to. Mickey once more the well of information informed Jackie, in a gloating voice, that the Doctor had 'vamoosed' and left Rose behind. Rose wouldn't have her Ex sullying her husband's name or reputation anymore than it was in the eyes of her mother and in the Doctor's defense shouted back,

"He's not gone, because he gave me this!" Rose showed him the key and Mickey just rolled his eyes and laughed at the object. Like a key, that could be to anything, was undeniable proof that the Doctor was coming back. Rose was angry now, she believed with all her heart that this small piece of metal meant that she would always have a home with the Doctor and how dare Mickey question that. Even if he was mad at her, Mickey should not talk about her technically-still-her-husband, no not technically!

"He's my husband, Mickey. No, those words don't even describe it. That's just a legal and societal term, he's better than that. He's much more important than…" Rose tried to explain, with confidence in her voice, in words what the most important person in her universe, the Doctor, meant to her. But her monologue was stopped when she noticed that the key in her hand was glowing with a golden light. The Blond smiled and looked at Mickey with a knowing smirk as they heard and started to feel the TARDIS materialize.

"I said so." Smiled Rose to her Ex, but then remembered that her mother was right behind her and she frantically turned to her mother and begged,

" Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just, Mum, go. Oh, blimey." Rose put her thumb in her mouth and nervously chewed on the tip as the TARDIS started to become visible. How was she going to handle this, her mum? This was the worst way for her mum to find out that she married an alien. Well there were probably worse ways, but right now to her this was the worse. Jackie stared on aghast while Mickey knowingly pointed to the box. Rose was now caught in her web of lies and Mickey was going to sit back relax and watch Rose sweat her way out of this one. Jackie still not understanding how the blue box appeared or what it had to do with John, asked how they had pulled off this trick. Rose not knowing what else to do, decided that she wanted to make an attempt at a united front and opened the Door to the TARDIS to find her husband. She needed his support and she needed to warn him that he was about to have a talk with his mother-in-law like no other before.

Rose unlocked the TARDIS, ran through the door and up the ramp to the console. Under different circumstances she probably would have been euphoric that she had opened the TARDIS's door all on her own but she had to give the Doctor a heads up. However, she was also upset that he had gone off when he said he wouldn't, even though he had come back. The Doctor as if he could read her thoughts by just her steps alone threw his hands up in surrender and declared,

"All right, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look…" The Doctor had in fact wanted to bring Rose along on the next part of this mission, having backup was nice and Rose was helpful during a mystery. It was the TARDIS however who had chosen the timing. It seems for wandering off from his bride and whacking the console, the punishment from the TARDIS was now the Doctor had to disclose who he really was to his mother-in-law. Rose interrupted the Doctor trying to radiate whatever charm she thought would best appeal to the Doctor and very quietly and a bit nervous told the Doctor,

"My mum's here." The Doctor was not happy, not happy at all. He had real aliens to catch and the last thing he needed was a visit from the 'in-laws.' The doctor turned around and saw that in his TARDIS stood a shocked Jackie and dumbfounded but irritated Mickey Smith. In a huff he rolled his eyes and turned back to Rose. Getting closer to her and looking her in the eyes she could see that he was as annoyed as if she had just left the door open and stray cats had got in.

"Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic." The Doctor all but ordered Rose. That was when Mickey declared to the Doctor,

"You ruined my life, Doctor." The Doctor sighed exasperated; did he really have to deal with this now?

"They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you. Supposedly I was the last one to be seen with Rose, alive!" Announced Mickey to the room. The Doctor just looked at the human in front of him and turning to Rose groaned,

"You see what I mean? Domestic." Rose felt like she was standing in the middle of a minefield. She was trying to play mediator between her mother, her Ex and her husband and if she made a wrong move in the next few seconds the whole room would explode! She desperately wanted to bypass this whole situation and magically make her mother and Ex-boyfriend-but-still-friend, understand that she didn't mean to leave them for a year, truly. And that she was complicatedly, but still somewhat happily, well determining that, married to an over 900 year old alien time traveler. Easy, right? Well it would be easy if the Doctor was making any effort to meet her half way. She needed him to back her up and he was doing anything but. If the alien git slept or even shared the same bed as her now, she'd be mad enough to tell him that he was sleeping on the couch tonight and every night for a month. She felt like he was forcing her to choose right there a side. Her fellow humans or her husband? Rose was shaken from her dramatic thoughts by Mickey raising his voice to accuse the Doctor of being so uncaring about the consequences of his actions or the lives he affected that he bet that the Doctor didn't even remember Mickey's name.

"Ricky." Said the Doctor, as if it were the dumbest question in the world. Whether the Doctor was getting the young man's name wrong by accident or on purpose, it didn't matter. Mickey was steamed regardless.

"It's Mickey." The man snapped at the Doctor.

"No, it's Ricky." Corrected the Doctor annoyed.

"I think I know my own name." Said Mickey irritated with the alien thinking he knew better.

"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" asked the Doctor. Mickey had fallen right into the little Doctor's trap and made Mickey look foolish by his own words. The man probably was about to come to blows with the Time Lord, but the mood was broken with Jackie fleeing the TARDIS. Rose did not want her mother running off now before she could explain the situation fully to her.

"Mum, don't!" Shouted Rose, who now realized that she was being pulled in three directions and trying to hold three conversations instead of just one with the group of people surrounding her.

"Don't go anywhere." She ordered the Doctor, shaken up and fearful that if she left the TARDIS the Doctor would leave again on his adventure without her, not wanting anymore domestics to deal with. She then worried about leaving Mickey alone with the Doctor and begged the man,

"Don't start a fight!" Rose didn't want to come back and find anyone with a black eye or find herself an actual widow now. She then raced for her mother, shouting for her to come back. She must be afraid of the Doctor now. Or going through that cultural shock thing that the Doctor had told her about earlier that Rose had experienced, at an extreme level, back on Platform One. Oh how did she convince her mother that the Doctor was not dangerous to them? He could be gruff and rough around the edges but Rose never doubted that the Doctor was her protector and would do everything in his power to keep her safe as she could be time traveling. Especially when Rose would wander into trouble. Without the Doctor's help could Rose convince her mother that he wasn't always as impossible as he was acting now? He just didn't like human domestics, that was all. Okay that was a big issue to dance around too. These jumble of thoughts escaped her lips in the form of,

"Mum, it's not like that. He's not." Shouted Rose feeling tongue tied. She wanted to follow her mother back to the flat but then she remembered the mystery a foot and how much she wanted to help the Doctor. Almost pathetically, she shouted to her mum,

"I'll be up in a minute. Hold on!" God, Rose wished she could split herself in two right now. She thought that she was probably the worst daughter in the world but she turned back and ran into the TARDIS.

There was a mystery a foot and Rose was too much like her husband to resist it. She had to know. She ran up beside the Doctor squeezing in close to look at the monitor that her husband was scrutinizing. Continuing where their conversation had originally started, before Mickey and Jackie had stepped in, Rose replied,

**"**That was a real spaceship." The Doctor replied the affirmative.

"So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading? Are they just trying to make it look like a crash, yeah?" Asked Rose excited to find out what was really going on. Oh the Doctor had to admit to himself that he really liked it when Rose was deducting things, secretly he felt something about it was, what the apes would say, a real turn on. The Doctor was going to speak but Mickey piped up from behind,

"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey thought that these aliens would have to be dumb as bricks to so plainly say, 'here we are!' The Doctor thought that that comment was surprisingly good and replied,

"Good point! So, what're they up to?"

As the 'mystery crew' thought away in the TARDIS, Jackie was left in her room alone, frightened and not knowing what to do. This wasn't a light matter. Her daughter was in danger and Jackie had to do something to remove the danger, i.e. this man that she thought was a man named John, but seemed to go by the name 'the Doctor' now. He was an alien, if he was lying about that then a false name was no surprise. She knew that for whatever reason, perhaps even mind control, Rose loved, or at least thought she did, this alien who was her daughter's husband. God, was that even legal? Regardless of their assumed marriage she had to separate them. It might damage their mother/ daughter relationship forever but Jackie had lived a year thinking her baby girl was dead, and if she knew anything an angry daughter, who possibly would never speak to her again, was a whole lot better than a dead one. Who knew maybe once she had been away from that thing's influence, Rose would come to her senses, as she clearly didn't seem to be in her right mind. She knew that she had to protect her daughter, but she didn't know how she was going to do it. That was until the television, after informing that at least three people had been assaulted by members of the public who had falsely identified the victims as alien, implored for help.

A man called Tom Hitchinson was now on the screen and he appealed to his viewers,

"Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help." Jackie seeing her salvation and her daughter's liberation from the alien menace, who had ensnared her, picked up her bedroom phone and dialed the number on the screen. Jackie clung to the phone like the lifeline it was and got a busy tone. She dialed again. Busy! She dialed a third time and finally she got through. In a voice that was in near hysterics she declared,

"Oh, my God. She's not safe. I've seen an alien, and I know his name. He's called the Doctor." Little did Jackie know that her words, 'the Doctor,' were already being cross referenced into a database search. She described to the person on the phone what the Doctor's spaceship looked like and squeaked out the information she had observed and heard from her daughter.

"A box. A blue box. She called it a Tardis." She cried out. The database located at Downing Street at the word TARDIS blared off a warning and a team was dispatched to settle the matter of 'The Doctor.'

Oblivious to her mother's betrayal, Rose was sitting on the Jump seat of the TARDIS watching the Doctor doing some work on the console that would help them find out the fake crash's point of origin. Perhaps this way they could guess what the invaders were up to. Rose watched slightly annoyed as the Doctor continued to unnecessarily push Mickey's buttons. Though at the same time she was also enjoying the view as the Doctor laid on his back under the console with his legs hiked up on the floor grating. This was probably the first time she had seen him lying down while not on fire. With a lot of imagination his mostly awkward position on the floor could be turned into him lying down on that frankly huge bed in the room that was supposed to be theirs. With Mickey in the room she wasn't having erotic thoughts about her husband or anything. She just really missed seeing him lying down on a bed, particularly next to her. And as pathetic as she was trying to not make it sound, she wanted to memorize what the Doctor looked like lying down. She could then pretend he was doing that in her bed when she went to sleep later on. Her love life was at an all time low if imaginary, just barely horizontal, platonic proximity was being made into a romantic fantasy in her mind. She decided once more to stop depressing herself and watched the show starring the two actors in front of her.

"So, what're you doing down there?" asked Mickey, he had been watching the Doctor for an hour now and still didn't have a clue what he was doing or what part of this spaceship he was working on. Being a mechanic Mickey was genuinely curious. The Doctor annoyed by the interruption addressed the man.

"Ricky." Said the Doctor getting his name wrong again and surely on purpose this time.

"Mickey." Corrected the man annoyed. The Doctor ignored the correction.

"Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?" asked the Doctor, it was a rude question, but did have a point.

"I suppose not." Replied Mickey a bit put off guard, it was true, he probably wouldn't understand alien technology even if it were explained to him.

"Well, shut it, then." Smiled the Doctor and he proceeded to get back to his sonicing. Mickey feeling low and dejected ambled over to Rose for sympathy.

"Some spouse you've got." He said a bit bitterly, but mostly sad.

"He's winding you up." Rose tried to explain and seeing the hurt in the man's eyes from over a year of being tormented and cast aside declared,

"I am sorry." Mickey just acknowledged her apology but looked even more dejectedly at the floor.

"I am, though. I never meant for you to get hurt, Mickey. I broke it off with you because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to two-time and let you find out the hard way. I thought I was being kind to you." Said Rose she couldn't look him in the eyes anymore.

"Rose, I never stopped worrying about you…I never stopped loving you. You might have been through with me and moving on but I wasn't when you broke up with me. Do you know how it feels to be cast aside by your girlfriend for a man old enough to be her father? And with the same last name and everything. And despite that, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I didn't start dating again, not from when we first broke up to when I last saw you. Still wasn't over you. Friends told me to get over you, but I couldn't. And I couldn't bring myself to hate you when you didn't string me along. That was in a sense 'a kindness.' And when you went off with him in that box…I didn't know what would happen to you, or when I'd see you again. If at all. Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year." Mickey said almost tearing up. Rose's heart went out for the man and she tried to explain that this whole year thing gone had just been a very bad accident.

"It's only been a few days for me. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you in front of the house."

"Not enough time to miss me, then?" asked Mickey, wanting to know if he at least still held a place of endearment in her heart.

"I did miss you, Mickey. How do you not?" replied Rose, Mickey smirked and revealed that he had missed her too. Though his term of missed might be a bit more loaded than Rose's was.

"So, er, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?" asked Rose, hopeful that he had moved on because she very much wanted him to be happy. She had made him sad enough and wanted him to find happiness with someone just as wonderful as him. Mickey had to admit that he had not been dating anyone else yet.

"Mainly because everyone thinks I might have murdered you and possibly your husband." Explained Mickey. Rose cringed and confirmed that she understood the situation.

"So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?" Mickey knew it was a slim chance, but was very hopeful that Rose might have decided that the life of a time traveling alien's wife wasn't for her. And if that was the case maybe she might be willing to try on them again. Just a normal human bloke and not an alien one. Rose never had a chance to answer though as the Doctor took that pause in the conversation to announce,

"Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on." And as The Doctor said, the trajectory of the crashed spaceship was shown on the monitor.

"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed." Explained the Doctor trying to look double impressive. He had actually discovered the data a few moments prior but when he noticed that Rose and Mickey proximity was getting a bit too close to each other and bit too quiet in their talking, he thought it best to put a stop to that. So he loudly announced his findings to draw Rose back to his side. It was a great plan and one he would never own up to being motivated by the desire to be possessive of Rose around other males. Rose inquired as to what the data's meaning was and the Doctor explained that it meant that the crashed ship came from Earth in the first place.

"It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?" Mused the Doctor to his human companions.

The Doctor decided that this was as good a time as any to see what the humans were up to on tele. It might provide at least some notion as to what ideas had escalated among the Earthlings. He began flipping through channels on his monitor passing several news stations trying to find something that could give them a hint as to what these aliens had planned by garnering all this panic. Mickey, ever curious, looked over the Doctor and Rose's shoulders as it was a tiny monitor and the Doctor was clearly not letting Mickey get anywhere near Rose.

"How many channels do you get?" asked Mickey a bit excited.

"All the basic packages." Declared the Doctor with some pride, to which Mickey with the joy of a child asked,

"You get sports channels?" Rose rolled her eyes, the man was forever thinking about sports even a year later. But with nothing else in his life for a year what else was to be expected.

"Yes, I get the football." Answered the Doctor and in a moment where he forgot where he was and the situation at hand, Mickey wonder if Rose could convince the Doctor to let him come over and watch the next match if they had a bigger screen in this spaceship. Mickey's fantasy of matches was interrupted when the Doctor stopped on a channel and pointed to the military looking group on the screen.

"Hold on, I know that lot." A woman on the television said something about the Government bringing in alien specialists while the Doctor continued his explanation.

"UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." Smiled the Doctor. This was the first time the Doctor had ever had anything other than an ill opinion about anything human outside of the realm of the past and intrigued she questioned how the Doctor knew them. However, instead of the Doctor answering, Mickey did.

"'Cos he's worked for them. Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead." Stated Mickey with an all knowing voice and very keen to remind Rose of the dangers of being around the Doctor.

"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." Said the Doctor sarcastically and obviously not impressed with Mickey's eerie warnings or information gathering. These were evidently people with the right resources that they should be talking to or warning about the invasion, why was the Doctor not contacting them if he worked for them in the past?

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" she asked her husband. Oh how did he explain that to Rose? He really didn't want to go into the regenerating process. It was a long explanation at the least. And being fobbed was already like regeneration. A part of him so small might have also been afraid to explain that he could change his face to Rose. As much as he denied it, he enjoyed her company and didn't want her to stop traveling with him. That information might have her worried that he could change again at any minute. And this time not be recognizable. Maybe she didn't want to have to deal with that a second time when she was still coming to terms with John being the Doctor now. So he made up a vague excuse.

"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix." Said the Doctor pointing at himself.

"I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving." Announced the Doctor as he put the TARDIS on emergency power so that it would be the least detectable and put the perception filter on its highest setting.

"Where to?" asked Mickey, confused and a bit annoyed that the Doctor just volunteered his car without asking.

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." Declared the Doctor as they exited the TARDIS.

No sooner had the Doctor, Mickey and Rose walked out of the TARDIS, they were surrounded by a helicopter, police, armored cars and men with guns, lots and lots of guns. They could barely see because of the blinding light from the copter above them.

"Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads." Shouted a policeman on a megaphone to the trio below. Once they looked surrounded Mickey freaked out and ran for the shadows. He had no desire to get mixed up this much in the Doctor's mess. Soldiers followed him but cleverly he managed to hide behind some trash bins and the soldiers ran right past him.

Rose clung to the Doctor as she heard and saw a group of men with attack dogs approach and she feared for the Doctor. Were these people going to take him away from her, lock him up and she'd never see him again? Would they experiment on him or dissect him? She never had accounted for this when she realized she was married to an alien. She had been so far removed from the real world that she didn't think what her actual world would do if they discovered a specimen as fantastic as The Doctor. She wanted to protect him but she didn't know how. Rose heard her mother's voice over the noise and saw soldiers grab her, keeping her away, which upset Rose even more. Was her whole family at risk now, but from what or who? And why was the Doctor just watching somewhat amused by this obvious threat. Did he have a plan? The police in the helicopter above them once again ordered The Doctor and Rose to raise their hands over their head and they both complied. The Doctor then smiled up at the helicopter and declared,

"Take me to your leader." Rose's worry was broken instantly by the cliché and she raised an eyebrow to her husband as best she could under blinding lights.

"Sorry, couldn't resist, I so rarely get to say it." Smirked the Doctor to Rose.

**Author's Notes:** WOOOOO, insomnia again! Lucky you and not so lucky me, so banged out another chapter. Next chapter is entitled, **The Doctor and Rose: Earth's most interesting couple**.


	25. Chapter 25

**Complicated**

by The Plot Thinens

**The Doctor and Rose: Earth's most interesting couple****-Chapter 25  
**  
**  
** The Doctor and Rose were now being lead to the street and before they knew it they were shuffled over to what appeared to be some kind of armored limo. Rose had enough time to crane her head around to see thankfully the Police, and not the military, leading her mother back into Jackie's apartment building. She looked forward and watched her husband climbed into the open door of the limo and sit down. The Doctor upon seeing their accommodations and no cuffs or bars to be found realized that their situation wasn't as dire as Rose might still be thinking. Rose climbed into the backseat with the Doctor and looked about the inside of the limo.

"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago." Smirked Rose a bit confused. The Doctor now comfortably seated smiled his manic grin and retorted,

"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." Gloated the Doctor as he laughed to his technically-still-his-wife. Rose giggled and asked where they were being escorted to? The Doctor quite proudly stated as if it were obvious that they were being personally escorted to Downing Street. Rose could not believe her ears.

"You're kidding." Asked Rose in amazement, to which the Doctor retorted that he was not kidding and that they were indeed on their way to 10th Downing Street.

"Come along with me Rose Tyler and you'll get treated like royalty soon enough. Been mistaken for a God more than once actually, now that I think about it." The Doctor continued his big headed gloating but Rose was not catching a word of it. She was too blown away by the fact that a chav like her from a council estate was being taken to Downing Street, 1st class. The glamour and prestige of it all was circling in her head, what a story to tell her Mum.

"Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street? How come?" Inquired Rose of her husband, she was so excited that she might start bouncing on the seat. The Doctor looked a bit pained and embarrassed, but still full of himself and replied,

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed." Amazing. Imagine the attention she'd catch alone being technically-still-the-wife of this man. As long as they didn't try to lock up the Doctor afterwards and he managed to actually help save the world from an invasion, then there was no way anyone, not even her Mum, could have a bad thing to say about him. At least not in public. The Doctor struck her as a contradictory man, on one hand he liked attention and to be praised but on the other hand he liked to be as anonymous as possible and not stay too long to answer too many questions afterward. Would he stick around after this to be praised? Did he plan on letting himself become a celebrity? Most women probably wouldn't mind their husbands being famous and it wasn't that Rose would love him less if the world knew about him more. She just wanted him to herself and didn't want to have to share him with the press or publicity of her time. She already had to share him with the universe. She just hoped that it didn't go to his head and that he still wanted to travel with her afterwards. He'd have people throwing themselves at him for a chance to work or travel with the man who saved the World. Again she was being negative, 'Try a little more optimism Rose, yeah?' thought Rose. Wanting to keep the conversation pleasant and still excited for the possibility of the situation, she asked for confirmation of her assumption,

"So there's trouble and now they need you?"

"Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" Smiled the Doctor so proud of himself. Rose had to take the wind out of his sail a bit, she just couldn't let his head get as big as the face of Bo head. So with a smug voice she answered,

"Patrick Moore?" The Doctor looked a bit put off but still he was too proud of himself and apart from that guy the Doctor asked her to guess again. Rose could clearly see that he was still sitting on his throne of 'I am so great,' and laughed,

"Oh, don't you just love it. You love the attention, everywhere we go you're center stage. You even jumped on the stage back in Cardiff. And who do you show up with as back up to save me? Dickens! All the important people in history just flock to you, without fail. And you love it." The Doctor couldn't deny that he had met a lot of interesting people and of course he couldn't help the attention, he was a fantastic superior Time Lord after all. So naturally Downing Street would want him to pay a visit in a crisis if he were around. Downing Street, not the first time he was a guest, he wondered how much it changed from last time he was there? Then he got to thinking about Prime Ministers, boy he met them like people might hope to collect trading cards. The Doctor thought that he would impress Rose with some name dropping.

"Well you flocked to me too, didn't you? I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?" The Doctor was so wrapped up in his gloating that he didn't seem to notice that he had actually given Rose a nice compliment. He had hinted that she was important in history, so that was why their paths crossed, and that was very nice, Rose thought. The Blond suddenly registered that the Doctor had asked her a question about who the Prime Minister was.

"How should I know? I missed a year." Exclaimed Rose to her absentminded husband.

"Right" said the Doctor as he snuggled his back into the plush leather seat. Rose upon closer inspection noticed the tinted windows and the divider to the front seat was up. The Doctor was so close to her in this not so bigger on the inside vehicle. How fast was an escort to Downing Street anyway? Rose placed her hand on the Doctor's and felt the added adrenaline of touching him on top of the adrenaline she had experienced from this situation of being 'picked up' by the military. She wouldn't lie to herself; she was having impure thoughts of what they could do in the back of this limo before they arrived. But then like a bucket of cold water, reality set in and she remembered that she had never been more scared for the Doctor like she was earlier and now he might still be in danger, who knew? She wanted to be closer to him for comfort and it was the backseat of a limo. 'Sitting closer could be forgiven, yeah?' Rose asked herself. She slipped closer to him when the vehicle bounced up slightly when they hit a pot hole in the road. Also during that bounce Rose managed to pick up the Doctor's hand she had been holding and looped it around her waist. Now flush against him she hugged him burying her face in his shirt that was poking out of his jacket. She clung tightly to him and breathed in his scent, which was not an unpleasant sensation the Doctor was finding as he was easily at leisure to take in her scent too, if he wanted.

"Doctor, I was so worried for you. I thought that they were going to take you away from me, lock you up and I'd never see you again." She whispered into his chest with a shaky voice. The Doctor who had been silent up to this point mainly because he wasn't sure what to do with Rose this close. Having no place to run away to in the back of this limo, he decided to alleviate her worries with a little humor. He gave her a reassuring hug and then looked her in the eyes.

"Oh please, Rose Tyler. You think that a silly 21st century military could keep me locked up forever? I'd be out and about in no time. You'll never lose me." Laughed the Doctor, but then he froze when he realized the implications of what he had just said. Did he mean that or had he just been show boating? The Doctor asked himself this question while Rose just gazed up at him, eyes frozen to his, and looking hopeful. Rose wanted to say something and so did the Doctor, but the car stopped and neither of them ended up saying anything as the door to the vehicle was opened to let them step out.

Downing Street looked just like it did on television, only more surreal for someone who had never been there let alone a guest. Rose and the Doctor stepped out of the limo and were immediately bombarded with flashing camera lights and the noise of reporters begging for them to look this way or that way. Some howled for statements too. Rose could see that the Doctor was loving the star treatment and turn to the journalists and grinned. He waved and the reporters waved back and then he was off to the front door of 10th Downing. Rose sheepishly waved too and she wondered vaguely how many tabloids they would be in or news channels their pictures would be flashed in front of. 'Who was this mysterious couple and why were they so important to be summoned to Downing Street during a crisis like this?' The blond could almost hear them thinking. Rose wondered, would some see the Doctor and recognize him as John Smith? Well she guessed there were worse places to be seen escorted to. Rose finally turned to the door and biting her lip while grinning with excitement she said to herself,

"Oh, my God." A few steps and she was inside one of the most important places in Britain.

At the same time in what was not considered a very important part of Britain at all, Jackie was sitting in her flat nervously talking to the police. The three police officers sat with Jackie and were questioning her about the man she had helped them 'tag'. Jackie had seen her daughter brought away with the Doctor and she was worried that she might have caught hell by being with the Doctor.

"So, she's all right then? She's not in any trouble?" Asked Jackie of the Officers. She had called to get rid of the Doctor not to involve her daughter in whatever mess or trouble The Doctor was set up to deal with. In her perfect world the Doctor would have been carted away, Rose would have been returned to her unharmed and then they would never have to see the dangerous man again, but there were obviously some hiccups in her plan. One of the policemen, a fat dumpy looking one, named Strickland, sat down in the chair next to Jackie and explained,

"Well, all I can say is, your daughter and her companion might be in a position to help the country. We'll need to know how she made contact with this man, if he is a man." Shifting his weight the officer's stomach made a not too pleasant sound and the man said to his fellow remaining officers,

"Oof. Right, off you go then. I need to talk with Mrs Tyler on my own, thank you." The other law enforcement officers then left the room, leaving Jackie alone with the fat policeman.

Inside the waiting room at Downing Street there were dozens of people of importance, and important looking, shuffling about for the meeting about to start. Among these important people was a supposedly not so important looking person by the name of Harriet Jones. She was an older woman, dressed in a respectable conservative fashion and clutching her ID card as if it were a source of comfort to her. She had just witnessed something that needed to be brought to the attention of the right people for the sake of the world and she didn't know who she could trust. Certainly no one in Downing, but maybe someone brought in. She looked shaken up from what she had seen, thought she was trying very hard to cover that up. She flashed her ID badge at the UNIT officer guarding the room,

"Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." Declared the woman as she worked her way into the room of people. A young looking but very capable government man was now raising his voice over the crowd to gain the attention of the people around him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times." The man then proceeded to give a badge to the Doctor, which the Doctor happily placed around his neck.

"Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance." The young man said to the Doctor. The Doctor looked upset by this information. He didn't want to leave Rose alone, especially during an emergency. And not only that but Rose was much more clever than other humans, in his opinion, so it would only serve as a benefit to have Rose with him to bounce ideas off of. He put his arm around Rose's shoulder and announced very clearly to the man,

"I don't go anywhere without her." Not negotiable. The young man looked sympathetic but sternly replied,

"You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside."

"She's staying with me." Barked the Doctor to the young government man. This was ridiculous to the Doctor. They trusted him enough and if the Doctor trusted Rose with code 9 clearance or whatever it was, then that should be good enough for these apes. The man clearly did not want a fight about this, rules were rules. And no matter how important a person, they all had to follow the rules that's why the rules were there.

"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact." The young man said imploring the Doctor to understand. Rose was uneasy about the situation but she couldn't help but feel a bit giddy over the Doctor's uncompromising desire to keep her near him. It made her feel very important to the Doctor. And right now that was the only person in the whole universe that she cared thought she was important. Still there was a world to save and if the Doctor was not in there it would never get saved, so taking the issue out of the Doctor's hands she said,

"It's all right. You go." She was just excited enough to actually be in 10th Downing, what did it matter to her if she didn't get to go in with all the stuffed shirts? The Doctor would give her the skinny later anyway, and then the real meeting to save the world would start. It was then that Harriet Jones over heard the conversation and quite excitedly asked,

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" She had overheard earlier how important and what an expert he was and if anyone could help her he could. The Doctor answered the affirmative and the young government man rolled his eyes. He had been dealing with this woman's mundane concerns about retired citizens and other such unimportant at the moment issues all evening. He was sure whatever Ms Jones had to say it was not worth the Doctor's time and declared,

"Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" Harriet was now desperate to get the information she had to tell out now and announced,

"I just need a word in private." Harriet proceeded to argue with the man while Rose tried to convince the Doctor that it was okay to go into the meeting without her.

"Are you sure? You going to be alright on your own?" Asked the Doctor of his technically-still-his-wife. He really didn't want to leave her behind with all these strange panicky apes. And also a part of him had really liked being seen with Rose for some reason. He had especially enjoyed all the press taking pictures of the two of them getting out of the car at 10th Downing street's entrance. It didn't hurt him in the least if the world saw him with a useful, clever, and lovely woman like his Rose. 'His Rose?' Yet another slip up thought the Doctor, but stuff like that just kept happening when he was looking at her.

"Just go, they can't save the world without you and I'll be just fine out here." Smiled Rose to her worried husband.

"I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." Declared the Doctor to Rose as he left the room for the meeting.

"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." Finished the young man to Jones and then he turned to the Doctor's companion,

"I'm going to have to leave you with security." Said the man to Rose. Harriet knew that this woman was with the Doctor and if she traveled with the Doctor then she was just as good and as important a person to talk to as the Doctor. Practically latching on to the young woman, Harriet smiled sheepishly and asked,

"It's all right. I'll look after her. Let me be of some use." Then forcing a smile she whispered to Rose,

"Walk with me. Just keep walking." Rose followed but she was a bit uneasy by the vibes she was getting off the woman. Rose tried to look back at the room she had just left only to hear the woman whisper again,

"That's right. Don't look round. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North."

Inside the briefing room were seats and tables with papers to brief the alien experts on the situation, whatever it was. The Doctor although aware of the gravity of the situation was very excited to be in the room. History is being made and he was now part of it! This was indeed why he traveled in time, to experience historic events first hand. The doctor quickly scanned over the papers and in a matter of seconds became an expert on the information, before the briefing could even begin. Meanwhile, slightly hidden by the staircase, Harriet Jones was with Rose Tyler. Harriet saw this young girl as her salvation, if she could just convey what she had seen to this companion of the Doctor, Rose, somehow she knew things would be alright.

"This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?" Asked Harriet with a shaky voice. Rose was curious but cautious and asked,

"Why do you want to know?" But before the woman could answer Harriet broke down into tears and Rose gripped the woman's arms in comfort and tried to calm her down.

At the front of the briefing room, leading this meeting of minds were two very large tubby men. The man standing up was General Asquith, Chief of the Defense Staff, the most senior military officer in Britain at this time. The man sitting down at the place of power, was Joseph Green. This man until recent events was Chairman of a Parliamentary committee monitoring sugar standards in export of confectionary, but was now acting Prime Minister. By coincidence he was now the highest ranking member of the government within London during this crisis period and possible invasion, making him Acting PM. What were the odds that circumstances would make someone as unimportant as this the most powerful person in Britain?

"Hope someone bought a lottery ticket." The Doctor heard a man in front of him say as he explained to the man next to him just who it was sitting in front of them. General Asquith raised his voice and got the attention of the many people in the room.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant." The Doctor who had already briefed himself decided that since he was the only person in the room that it mattered was briefed decided to bypass wasting in a meeting and addressed the room. It was time for the short version.

"Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there. You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?" Asked the Doctor of the room. While the Doctor addressed these experts in the know, the real critical information was being discussed up stairs in the Cabinet Room. Harriet Jones was so glad to have the assistant to the Doctor listening to her when so many would not. Rose had followed her into the Cabinet Room and Harriet had produced from the closet what looked like a giant Halloween costume. At first Rose thought it was like one of those political novelty masks, but when she touched it she could tell that it did not feel like plastic. It was human flesh and there was a zipper stitched and concealed into the head of what looked like a taxidermy human.

"They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" Explained the distraught woman who was barely holding herself together. Harriet was still afraid that she would not be believed by Rose, but Rose was no stranger to weird or aliens and believed Harriet whole heartedly. Gripping the woman's shoulders to calm the woman, Rose said reassuringly,

"It's all right. I believe you. It's, it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it." The aliens must have completely taken over 10th Downing so any number of alien possessions could be around the place. Rose began looking about the room for anything that screamed to her eyes alien tech. She looked behind things open drawers and cupboards until she reached a different cupboard. This one being different because a man's body slumped out of it and fell to the floor! Rose was horrified,

"Oh, my God! Is that the…" Rose never had a chance to finish her sentence because at that time the young government man, who had been belittling Harriet earlier, entered the room.  
"Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander. Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!" Shrieked the young man as he gazed down on the floor at the body of his missing leader. A cruel laugh was heard and a short and fat blond woman entered the room.

At the same time the Doctor was reaching the end of his logical string of thoughts which he was saying out loud. It dawned on him and he was very worried.

"If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get? Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap." Stated the Doctor, he had to get these people moving before the trap closed around them.

"Oh! Has someone been naughty?" Giggled the woman that the young man knew as Margaret Blaine. Blaine had taken that moment to walk into the room and quite noticeably closed the door behind her and locked it. Then with the air of a panther on the hunt she approached closer to her prey. Rose and the young man were confused by her strange behavior, but Harriet was terrified.

Inside the Tyler flat Jackie proceeded to do what she thought was best for her daughter and continued to send Rose's husband up the river. She was upset that she was being drilled so much by the officer but she wanted to be helpful if it meant getting that dangerous man away from her baby girl. Even if part of her was feeling increasingly guilty for doing it. But Rose she was convinced wasn't in her right mind and needed her mother to save her, so she gave every detail that she could remember from what she saw and heard from the Doctor.

"It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?" Answered Jackie for the ninth time about the Doctor's transportation. The officer continued to give off a vibe of overwhelming concern about the dangerous situation Jackie found herself in over the Doctor.

"That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is trouble. And that's my job…." Announced the officer as Jackie walked into the kitchen. Jackie was stressed and whenever she was stressed she drank tea. Now was as good a time as any to start drinking tea and she looked about the kitchen for the kettle. Jackie was so distracted by her task and in her own little world of worry for her daughter that she did not see the officer in the next room take off his cap. Nor did she see the obvious zipper on his forehead under that cap. And she certainly did not see the blue flashing light coming from the living room as 'Strictland' began to unzip the zipper on his head!

"Eliminating trouble." Finished Strictland eerily.

"That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" Said the young man to Blaine as he stared disbelievingly at the corpse of the dead Prime Minister. Jones moved closer to Rose and gripped her arm as if she'd fall over if she didn't. Blaine moved ahead to the group still unrelenting in her creepy smile as if she were in the best secret ever, but was dying for the three people in front of her to figure it out.

"And who told you that, hmm? Me." Smirked the creepy fat woman as she reached up for her hairline.

"This is all about us. Alien experts. The only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room." Declared the Doctor with heightened worry, but his train of thought was derailed when the man who was now Prime Minister let off a noisy fart. Disgusted by the elimination system of the apes he turned to the man and hissed,

"Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?" The Doctor insulted by the man's body functions and anything that distracted from the serious matter at hand. So much to his irritation Acting PM Green smirked,

"Would you rather silent but deadly?" General Asquith then proceeded to remove his cap and began to unzips a zipper in his forehead. Green began to laugh and the room filled with blue light as the alien inside the skin of Asquith wriggle to get free of his human disguise. It was a trap, the Doctor knew this now and the trap was for all these experts carefully gathered into one room. Apart from the danger this spelt for the Earth and himself it also meant that Rose possibly was in danger too. He had brought Rose into a trap and he currently did not know where she was. He just hoped that she had not found trouble in the form of one of these aliens.

Margaret had now unzipped the zipper on her forehead and much to her relief her arms were now finally free. She flexed her three fingered hands and brandished them at the three terrified humans. She was going to enjoy this. Margaret then grabbed the young man around the next and lifted him up off the floor and slammed him hard against the wall. The man struggled but could not seem to free himself from the alien claw and his neck broke under the pressure.

In the Tyler flat a similar eight foot tall alien with large eyes and scaly green skin was menacing over a petrified Jackie Tyler. This was the first time Jackie had ever seen an alien that didn't resemble something familiar. Jackie was shaking with adrenaline and all she could do was scream and hope that someone could hear her and if not too late, rescue her.

The Doctor stared anxiously at the alien that had revealed itself in front of him and the gather crowd of alien experts. It was green with a childlike chubby face and a strange device around its neck. It hissed and roared causing the humans in the room to flinch and quake in terror with every move it made. This was not good, hostile aliens had infiltrated the British government and now he had to somehow fix this mess.

"We are the Slitheen." Hissed the alien that was posing as the General. Never stopping his laughing, Green then declared to the room of shocked and scared viewers,

"Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." Then holding up a remote controlled device he flipped a switch on it and the ID cards emitted electric shocks to their wearers, including the Doctor. The Doctor crippled by the electricity fell to his knees in pain.

**Author's Notes: **Hi fans of Complicated, guess what, gang? Really bad insomnia this week which means tons of updates soon as I can proof read them when I'm not half awake. Again Comments are appreciated. And I made a poll to test if anyone looks at my polls. I guess they don't. Down the road I am going to be hold a vote that will directly effect the story. Will be a bit but this is your early heads up so learn to use the polls feature I got set up as a test. Thanks!


	26. Chapter 26 - World War Three

Complicated

by the Plot Thinens

World War Three- Chapter 26

The Doctor felt numbing and stinging pain all over his body. He could not stand as his legs had buckled from the shock he was currently still a victim of. The ID tag around his neck was the source of the electricity that like every other ID wearing person in the room was trying to kill its wearer. Summoning his Time Lord strength the Doctor willed his hand to grasp at the ID badge and with a mighty yank ripped the metal chain holding the deadly ID badge from his neck. These Slitheen had tried to kill him with enough voltage to prove deadly to human beings. It was a level of voltage that was painful but not life threatening for a Time Lord.

"Deadly to humans, maybe." The ID badge continued to shock his hand and arm but now that it was away from his hearts he could move more freely and was able to stand up. Gridding his teeth the Doctor made his way to a surprised Acting PM Green and the tubby alien and latched the terrible device to the metal box around the Slitheen's neck. Both Green and the tubby alien began to convulse from the shock emanating from their own device designed to kill humans. It would appear that the metal boxes around their necks shared a link to each other. If one device was shocked it was transferred to the other wearers too. Free from the aliens' trap he raced to the hallway for reinforcements to detain the aliens.

The Doctor in saving his own life had unknowingly prevented becoming a widower by saving the lives of the two remaining humans upstairs, as well as his mother-in-law at the Tyler home. The alien that a few moments ago had already killed a man in front of Rose and Harriet was now shaking from a powerful electric shock. Rose didn't question what was going on, she just grabbed at the opportunity to save her life. Also grabbing Harriet's hand, Rose pulled her past the dead man on the floor and ran for one of the many joining rooms to hide from the monster. Hopefully she would be able to find the Doctor before that monster found them. She also was worried that there could be more of those aliens someplace, so she hoped that the Doctor was safe and being careful too.

Jackie on the other hand was scared out of her mind, she was about to be killed by the green alien thing before her but now it was shaking about helpless. She looked on confused and still unable to move out of fear. That was until Mickey came bursting through the kitchen door.

"Jackie!" Cried out Mickey to Rose's mother as he smashed a wooden chair against the back of the Slitheen. The alien was jerked a bit to the side and now Mickey had enough room for his rescue attempt. He grabbed Jackie's hands and pulled her up and out of the kitchen. However, before leaving he turned around in the doorway of the kitchen and took a picture of the alien with his mobile phone. With grim satisfaction he then ran out of the flat pulling Jackie along.

'There they were! Oh, stupid apes with guns never looked better!' Thought the Doctor as he ran up to the armed guards. He could use them to help him capture these dangerous aliens.

"Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them. They're inside Downing Street. Come on!" Announced the Doctor to the police forces as he waved his arm for them to follow. The Doctor, practically skipping just to move faster, led the guards down the hall. Unfortunately, in the time it took the Doctor to grab his backup the Slitheen aliens had already managed to not only get the electrical ID card off of Asquith, but also get him back into his skin suit. They were now once again both disguised and looking very much not like aliens again. Still sweating from the effort the two nervously sat in the back of the room among the alien experts' corpses and quickly began to think up a plan to explain away all the dead humans.

Rose and Harriet were now away from the alien monster that they had already witnessed killing a man. Rose was thinking of the next step to take which involved finding the Doctor and warning him but then Harriet did something that even Rose thought was a bit crazy. She ran back towards the room with the alien in it.

"No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." Shouted Harriet. Rose rolled her eyes exasperated and prayed that the alien was still being shocked by some unknown source as she ran after the older woman. However, when they reach the room to the two women's horror they discovered that the alien was not only no longer being shocked but also chasing after them. Rose slammed one of the many heavy oak doors in the alien's face to try and put some distance between them. But this plan did not work. The alien just smashed through the door a second later. Rose's blood was now pumped to the max with adrenaline at the sight of the smashing door and she grabbed Jone's hand and pulled the woman down the hall probably faster than Harriet's heels would normally allow. If there was ever a time she wanted to see that man of hers' face it was right now!

The Doctor entered the meeting room determined to get the drop on the aliens he had trapped in their own trap. The police forces flooded into the room to see a lot of slumped over people and Green and Asquith looking somewhat sheepish in the back of the room. 'Damn, they got the suit back on!' Thought the Doctor as the guards looked about the room confused. Nervously but trying to breathe authority Green shouted to the armed police officers,

"Where have you been? I called for help. I sounded the alarm. There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed." The policemen then looked over the bodies to check for signs of life.

"I think they're all dead." Announced one of the officers in horror. Realizing that the situation had escalated and that the blame for the dead humans had to be quickly and clearly handed over to someone else, Green pointed to the Doctor and shrieked,

"That's what I'm saying. He did it! That man there." The guards all turned over to the Doctor pointing their guns at him confused as to how the man had managed to do this to all these people in the room. But he wasn't about to be caught, the Time Lord knew the truth and smugly retorted,

"I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise." The police looked at the Doctor like he was crazy and the Doctor's face fell at how nutty his words must sound to these small minded apes. So rather pathetically he looked to the head policeman and asked,

"That's never going to work, is it?" To which the officer angrily answered the negative. That was fair enough for the Doctor and he made like a banana and split. He barreled out of the room running down the hallway from the armed officers. Much to the Doctor's displeasure he was fast realizing that he was being surrounded. Armed police were not only closely following behind him but in front of him as well. He needed an escape plan to get away from the apes and lifted up his hands indicating that he was surrendering. As he pretended to surrender he slowly walked in the direction of the lift and very subtly pressed the elevator call button. All the while non-threateningly smiling to put the officers at ease or off balance, either would do.

"Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute this man." Shouted Asquith to the confused guards. They understood that he was dangerous but they didn't see why a man who was clearly unarmed now and surrendering needed to be killed before a trial. Let alone the dangers of shooting someone in a small corridor at short range could cause for the shooters. The Doctor despite his imminent death was still all smiles and in his loud distracting voice declared to the police,

"Well, now, yes, you see, er, the thing is, if I was you, if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice…." It was at that moment that the elevator, that the Doctor had called, made a dinging noise indicating that it had arrived at ground level. Very quickly the Doctor stepped backwards into the elevator and whipped out his sonic screwdriver.

"Don't stand them against the lift!" Smiled the Doctor and then with buzz of his screwdriver the Doctor super powered the lift door and it shut faster than the stunned police could try to grab him. Smiling to himself inside the lift the Doctor shifted his weight merrily from one foot to another as he waited for the elevator to go up to the next floor. The lift door opened onto the next floor up and the Doctor looked out only to see yet another Slitheen alien. He also saw Rose from behind pulling at a door a few feet away from the alien! It now dawned on the Time Lord that he needed to provide a distraction for his technically-still-his-wife and her cohort she had picked up. So the Doctor cheerfully waved to the alien, who had heard the lift door open, and said,

"Hello!" While the Slitheen was looking at the Doctor, Rose and Harriet took their chance to pass behind the tubby alien while it appeared to be distracted. And indeed the Slitheen was distracted, something about that grin on the man's face just made the Slitheen want to bite off his head. Forgetting the two human females for now the green alien tried to attack the Doctor and lunged for him, but the lift door closed before the female Slitheen could lay a claw on him.

Every second counted in getting away from the alien that was hunting them, was all that was going on in Rose's head. She was grateful for the distraction that allowed them to continue breathing, for now, but they still were in danger. She didn't see who had caused the distraction from her angle in the corridor earlier but she hoped that they were not harmed by the alien. The women entered into what turned out to be a small room with only one way in and out. They were boxed in and the only other door was locked. Rose's heart sank as she heard the alien's roar approaching closer and in a panic voiced shouted out their only other option,

"Hide!" Rose got down on the floor and hid behind a cabinet while Harriet opted to stand behind an old looking screen. The two then held their breath and waited for what would happen next.

The Doctor knew that he needed some form of weapon to fend off such large and powerful aliens as the Slitheen. He also knew that he needed to do it fast before Rose and the woman with her were killed. Deciding to get off one floor above where he had been he poked his head out of the lift and as he expected it was deserted. He would climb down the stairs back to the floor he had last seen Rose and very cleverly and heroically rescue her from death's clutches once again. While thinking this he was running for the stairs when he noticed something red hanging on the wall that could be very useful to him. Not even slowing down he ripped it off the wall and barreled down the stairs in the direction of a bone quaking roar. Nothing was going to hurt his Rose today if he had anything to say about it.

The door opened to the room the two women were hiding in and sickening gargling giggles were heard. Rose and Harriet's blood ran cold in their veins as they became aware that the alien was in the same room with them and closing in. Rose's heart was beating so fast and so loud in her ears that she was sure that the alien heard it. Margaret took in a deep sniff of the air and with a knowing smile and a sing song voice declared,

"Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." The alien was now too close for Rose's comfort and she began to panic. She didn't feel safe anymore in her hiding place in what now felt like plain sight. All the alien had to do was walk around the cabinet and she would be a sitting duck. It was like a nightmare version of hide and seek and she did not want to be found. Rose looked and saw that the alien was searching with its back turned to her. On shaking feet she quickly made her way as quietly as possible over to the window to hide behind the thick curtains. She knew that it wasn't any better of a hiding place in the long term but the primitive instinct in her said that she felt more comfortable being covered up and hidden on all sides. Rose stood as still as a statue and tried not to breathe too loud. She almost wanted to cry she was so scared and she knew that the alien was enjoying making her frightened. 'Oh god, where was the Doctor?' Rose's mind screamed as the door creaked open again.

As if one blood thirsty alien wasn't bad enough for Rose and Harriet, two more Slitheen were making their way towards the frightened women. The Doctor had managed to hide as he saw the two male Slitheen aliens walk past him. Slowly the Time Lord followed them so not alert their heightened senses of his presence. Time Lords were a little more difficult to detect than humans from scent alone.

"It does us good to hunt. Purifies the blood." Grinned Green to Asquith as the two reveled in the last hunting ground they would ever hold on Earth before the final phase. The two aliens then entered into the room with Margaret having smelt and sensed that their sister was on the hunt.

"My brothers." Declared Margaret with reverence. Green smiled at his sister and joked,

"Happy hunting?" Wanting to know the status of her hunt.

"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." The female hissed with delight over a drawn out hunt.

"Sweat and fear." Added Asquith as Green took a deep whiff of the air and quite rudely declared,

"I can smell an old girl. Stale perfume and brittle bones. Be careful they might get stuck in your teeth." Harriet didn't know whether to be terrified or insulted at the rude comment about the state of her body and hygiene. But terror won out and she crouched down lower trying to be as quiet as the screen she hid behind. Margaret was not as interested in killing the old woman; her meat would be tough and gamey. Now a young and very active thing in its prime was just the tasty snack that she could sink her teeth into. Her brothers could go after the old woman. Best to start playing with her food's mind before the meat.

"And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenaline, with something strangely unearthly all about her. And fresh enough to bend before she snaps. What gooey filling she must have to chomp on." Hissed Margret in a creepy voice as she pulled the curtain away from where Rose was hiding. Rose was terrified and let out a scream, but before the killing blow could be made, Harriet had jumped out of her hiding place and shouted,

"No! Take me first! Take me!" She couldn't stand by and watch what she viewed as a scared child die before her while she hid. She had lived a much longer and fuller life and if any human had to die in this room tonight, she'd rather it be Harriet Jones, government back bencher than Rose Tyler assistant to the Doctor. She hoped that her outburst would at least give Rose a chance to try to get away while she distracted the aliens. The aliens had indeed switched targets but it was at that moment that the Doctor had chosen to come in and save the day. Bursting through the door he brandished a red fire extinguisher at the Slitheen and sprayed the tubby aliens with CO2. The Doctor ordered Rose and Harriet to leave the room with him which they gladly obliged. Rose pulled down the curtain she had been hiding behind to cover over Margaret and ran to her husband. If there was ever a knight in shining armor for Rose it was this Time Lord. The Doctor smiled now that Rose was back safely at his side, but looked to the older woman in confusion.

"Who the hell are you?" Asked the Time Lord genuinely puzzled.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." Replied the woman while holding up her ID badge.

"Nice to meet you." Answered the Doctor to whom Harriet returned similar sentiments. The three then ran from the room through the narrow corridors of 10th Downing looking for the next brilliant plan.

"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." Shouted the Doctor back to the two women as he led the way.

"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Shouted Harriet back. 'Oh she was fantastic this Harriet,' thought the Doctor. That was definitely a good next plan of action.

"Harriet Jones, I like you." Grinned the Doctor.

"And I like you too." Smiled Harriet to the Doctor. . Harriet even running for her life felt very safe with this man. There was nothing evil or ill-willed about him. And best of all he was listening to her and god did she love a person who could listen. With green aliens hot on their trail, the three found the Cabinet room and with a flash of the Sonic screwdriver they were inside the room.

Now within the Cabinet room the Doctor noticed a decanter on a side table in the room. Devising a clever plan he grabbed the glass bottle of liquor and held his sonic screwdriver up to it menacingly as he stood in the door way. The Slitheen had chased them down and were now standing outside the cabinet room door looking puzzled at the Doctor.

"One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." Growled the Doctor to the Slitheen, who took a step back at his threat. Rose also did her best to look threatening from her spot behind the Doctor.

"Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?" Asked the Doctor now that he had the attention of everyone and every alien in the area. Harriet ever trying to be helpful informed the Doctor that they were aliens, to which the Doctor indicated in mild annoyance that he already knew that.

"Who are you, if not human?" Asked Green, remembering what the Doctor had said when he ripped off the ID badge earlier in the evening.

"Who's not human?" Questioned Harriet confused. Rose informed the woman that the Doctor was not human but Harriett still couldn't believe it. He looked and acted so human but then again so did these other aliens an hour ago. The Doctor hushed the two women's conversation as he tried to concentrate on the delicate 'hostage' situation at hand.

"So, what's the plan?" Demanded the Doctor of the Slitheen, Harriet however continued her train of disbelieving thoughts and made a point about the Doctor,

"But he's got a Northern accent." Retorted Harriet who was sure that aliens wouldn't have a northern accent.

"Lots of planets have a north." Replied Rose a bit enjoying having a chance to parrot a comical response that the Doctor had given her before. And Rose liked that accent a lot too.

"I said hush. Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?" Inquired the Doctor trying to get everyone's full attention in the room.

"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" Ask the Slitheen Asquith incredulously. Honestly, the very idea that these humans were even worth the time and resources to invade and enslave was ridiculous. Humans weren't even cute or strong enough to sell as exotic pets on their home world.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" Countered the Doctor as he tried to narrow down their evil plan. The Slitheen for a moment thought that they had heard the Doctor wrong. Did he call them the Slitheen race? They began to laugh at the very idea of it, but they guess it was somewhat flattering. Anyway Green had to correct this little mistake right away and replied,

"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." This having been made clear the Doctor realized that the Slitheen were in fact a family of evil homicidal aliens from beyond the moon. How scifi horror monster movieish.

"We're a family business." Said Green proudly.

"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" Questioned the Doctor, but at this point the Slitheen were more than through with the game of 20 questions and Asquith politely interrupted the Doctor and asked skeptically,

"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" The Doctor then fumbled on his response and the Slitheen had all the proof they needed to know that he was trying to pull a fast one on them.

"You're making it up." Green declared matter-of-factly.

"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." Smiled the Doctor as he tried to pass off the liquor bottle to Harriet on his right. However, Harriet was now clutching at the emergency protocol plans, that were inside a red box, like they were a child to be protected, so Jones had no free hands.

"You pass it to the left first." Apologized Harriet. The Doctor without taking his eyes off the Slitheen passed the useless bottle to Rose.

"Thanks." Replied Rose, though to be honest she'd probably rather use this stuff's container as a weapon then drink out of it right now. The glass was good for at least one head injury. Since it looked like they would once again be going down fighting.

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." Hissed Asquith as he raised his three clawed fingers up with the intent to gut the pink little creatures. He could smell the fear in the two humans but the Doctor still did not seem to be as terrified as the humans. Perhaps it was different biology, but he just seemed excited. Excited to be killed? Either way there was no mistaking who he should kill first. Humans gave off a very specific stink to their mates when they were in danger or wanted help or protection. The little yellow one was practically broadcasting it to the universe and since the old girl was most likely not this human's mate than it must be the Doctor. He would gut her in front of him and throw all her gooey insides all over the room before he would kill the Doctor. Regret, fear, and despair made the best seasoning in any meat.

"Don't you think we should run?" Asked a panicked Rose to the Doctor. The Doctor did not seem at all upset or fazed that he was about to die much to Rose's surprise. Instead he went into lecture mode and declared,

"Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson." The Doctor then lifted a small panel by the door and pressed down on a button. Much to the shock of everyone but the Doctor, metal shutters crash shut across the windows and doors. Effectively locking out the Slitheen and keeping the three of them in relative safety inside. The Doctor was now very proud of himself and beaming he stated,

"Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." 'Praise, please.' thought the Doctor as he gazed at his lovely technically-still-his-wife. He couldn't wait to hear how great he was from those lovely lips of hers. But what ended up surprising him more than that he had been thinking about Rose's lips was the shape those lips were now taking. Rose tightened her lips and just looked at the Doctor like he was missing a very big piece of an obvious puzzle and inquired,

"And how do we get out?" The Doctor stood there mute, the wind now completely out of his sail.

"Ah." He stated plainly. He was stumped. Time Lords couldn't think of everything all the time after all, but the Doctor would never let on to that. To be honest all he was thinking about had been showing up the Slitheen, impressing Rose and keeping them safe. He didn't think that he was also in the process locking himself up for the Slitheen. He had to start thinking of a plan to save the world in a tiny sealed off room and fast.

**Author's Notes: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz comments…zzzzzzzz nice, good night.**

Sincerely,

A chronic insomniac that sleep just caught up with.


	27. Chapter 27 - Thinking inside the Box

**Complicated**

**By the Plot Thinens**

**Thinking inside the box - Chapter 27**

"And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals. That's group Captain Tennant James of the RAF, though why he's been summoned we've no idea. And that's Ewan McAllister, Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual. I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane, Chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea." Declared the news reporter Andrew Marr on the Television in Mickey's flat on the Powell Estate. Mickey and Jackie sat there and watched as the most obscure and quite frankly unimportant members of the government continued to pile into 10th Downing Street. Jackie was alive but very shaken up and scared from her near death experience at the hands of a slimy green space alien. Mickey was trying to be as comforting as he could to the woman who had made his life a living hell for a year now. It was actually quite a surreal experience for him. Probably the most surreal experience he'd had all day and considering that he'd seen real live aliens today that was impressive. When Jackie had suspected him of foul play involving her daughter, she had done everything but send him letter bombs. Yet here they were thick as thieves together in his kitchen in the course of one day after a near year of hostilities. Wasn't the world so strange? He handed her a mug of tea with a sheepish and nervous smile.

"Got anything stronger?" Asked Jackie with a voice shaking almost as much as her hands.

"No chance. I've seen you when you've had a few. This ain't time for a conga." Joked Mickey, trying to get Jackie to laugh and calm down. Jackie however was still upset and insisted that they tell someone of the authorities about the alien that attacked them. Mickey shook his head and stated,

"Who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of them. I mean, this is what he does, Jacks, that Doctor bloke. Everywhere he goes, death and destruction, and he's got Rose in the middle of it. I don't even think she realizes how much danger that Doctor puts her in. Married. Ha, it's a big joke! You don't keep throwing your wife in front of the 'bus' if you love her!" Jackie's face went ashen at the thought that suddenly flashed in her mind. The aliens had looked like people but they were really just wearing people suits.

"Has he got a great big green thing inside him, then?" Asked Jackie in horror of what her daughter might have really married. It was bad enough doing things with an alien that looked like people but if it turned out that her daughter was being tricked and really married to one of those things; Jackie didn't know what to do. What if Rose wasn't being tricked and didn't mind that the Doctor was really a green tubby alien. Rose seemed so dead set to stay with this alien man, her thoughts drifted to a few years down the line. She wondered what the children would look like! How was she supposed to show pictures around the Estate of grandbabies that looked like that thing that tried to kill her in the kitchen? She'd decided very quickly that she guessed she wouldn't since she didn't want to be carted away.

"I wouldn't put it past him. But like it or not, and I sure don't. He's the only person who knows how to fight these things." Explained Mickey being sensible given the dire situation that they were in. Jackie suddenly broke down crying and sobbed that she thought she was going to die on the floor of that kitchen. Mickey was beside himself. What did he do? He knew this woman hated him but he couldn't just stand there while a woman was crying and do nothing. He bent over and awkwardly hugged the older woman very quickly.

"Come on, yeah? If anyone's going to cry, it's going to be me. Now, you're safe in my flat, Jacks. No one's going to look for you here, especially since you hate me so much." Said Mickey as he looked down at the floor. Jackie now a little more in control of herself just looked up at the man and had to admit that he had saved her life and being saved by the Ex-boyfriend of your daughter who you spent the better part of a year defaming for the possible homicide of your daughter, was very embarrassing. To which Mickey had to agree. Jackie was still scared however, because that monster alien thing had wanted her dead and was still out there hunting them. Who do you turn to when you can't even turn to the police for help? They were on their own and Mickey was right. The Doctor, her alien git of a son-in-law, was their only hope.

Rose and the Doctor were now finished dragging the two bodies into the small store room inside the Cabinet room. The Doctor gently lifted the young government man's hands and laid them across his chest. It made the poor dead man look a bit more peaceful like he was sleeping instead of dead from a violently snapped neck. Looking at the dead man's face he turned to Harriet and asked,

"What was his name?" He then pointed to the dead man to which Harriet sadly replied that she did not know his name.

"I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." She admitted. The Doctor whispered an apology to the young man, it was never easy for him to see such a young person robbed of his life. It could just as easily be Rose laying dead on the floor if he didn't think of something to stop these aliens faster. The Doctor then shot up onto his feet ready to use his most deadly weapon he had to protect Rose and her home planet, his mind.

"Right. What have we got? Any terminals? Rose anything?" Asked the Doctor as he walked about the fortified room scanning it with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"No. This place is antique, though to you I guess it's pretty new." Answered Rose. Then an idea occurred to her and she asked the Doctor,

"Why didn't they use the prime minister as a disguise?" Oh the Doctor loved it when she asked cute questions,

"He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans." Replied the Doctor as he continued to look about the room for some contact with the outside world. Rose didn't understand how being fatter made the difference in picking a human skin to wear. They seemed too big to fit inside any human. So Rose asked the Doctor how an eight foot tall alien squeezed inside a human skin.

"That's the device around their necks. Compression field it shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange." Explained the Doctor. Rose shook her head and smirked,

"Wish I had a compression field so I could fit into a size smaller." The Doctor looked at her puzzled, why would she need to fit into a smaller size? Rose was literally perfectly proportioned as she was. She wasn't like those rubbish bony human models that starved themselves until they looked like walking skeletons. From a Time Lord's perspective Rose was a voluptuous human specimen who could still enjoy chips and had a healthy amount of meat on her bones. He literally would change nothing about her body. He was about to say something in response to Rose's comment when Harriet Jones, still looking over the emergency protocol forms, chastised Rose and said,

"Excuse me, people are dead, This is not the time for making Jokes." Rose apologized and declared,

"You get used to this stuff when you're married to a man like him." Harriet looked at Rose a bit shocked and befuddled by Rose's comment and stated,

"Well that's a rather strange marriage." Rose walked around to the other side of the table and grinned,

"Tell me about it." Meanwhile the Doctor puttered about trying to remember where he heard the name Harriet Jones before. He knew it. He just couldn't put his very impressive time lord finger on it. He even asked if she were famous, to which Harriet laughed and explained that she was just a backbencher and likely to remain so for the rest of her life.

"But that's not important. The protocols are redundant. The people they list that can help are all dead downstairs." Explained Harriet. Rose came up alongside Harriet and looking at the suitcase that held the protocols and asked,

"Hasn't it got a defense code and things? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" Harriet was horrified at the casualness of the question and thought that Rose must not fully understand what she was implying. Or the destruction it would bring about.

"You're a very violent young woman." Harriet declared, it wasn't a question but a declarative statement. Rose said that she was serious and that in this case it might be necessary to save the rest of the world. Harriet explained to the young blond that there was nothing like that in the protocol and that nuclear strikes codes were up to the UN to keep and hand out to countries like Britain in an emergency. Rose sarcastically declared that that never stopped anyone in the past from using them. Regardless, Harriet confirmed the codes were in the UN's hands and not the government that she was currently representing.

"Is that important?" Asked Harriet, hoping that she had given the Doctor useful information. The Doctor told her that any information she could give was important.

"Oh if only we knew what the Slitheen wanted. Oh, listen to me say Slitheen like its normal." Declared Harriet exasperated.

"What do they want?" asked Rose to the air. The Doctor took that as his cue to start thinking out loud.

"Well they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World. They're out to make money, so they want to use something. Something on Earth. A kind of asset that you humans have here…" pondered the Doctor. Harriet began to ramble off the resources that she could think that aliens could possibly want that this world had. Did they want gold, oil, or even water? The Doctor liked Jones's thinking. She asked good questions and she thought like Rose did. This Harriet, that he swore he knew from somewhere, was an asset herself and good at what she did, and the Doctor let her know. Harriet smiled a thank you to the Doctor. Suddenly Rose jolted from the surprise of the noise of her phone.

"Sorry, that's me." Squeaked Rose, who then retrieved her phone out of her pocket. Harriet looked in amazement at the young woman and ask,

"But we're shut off! How did you manage to get a signal in here?" Rose circled around heading for the Doctor and proudly declared,

"He zapped it. Super phone" Harriet quickly suggested calling for help and asked if the Doctor had contacts. To which the Doctor replied that he did but they were all dead downstairs. The caller ID on the phone indicated that she had a text message from Mickey and she read over the message. The Doctor was tired of Mickey for the day and groaned,

"Tell your stupid Ex boyfriend, we're busy." The picture that the phone had downloaded finished loading and Rose announced knowingly,

"He's not so stupid after all." And showed the Doctor the picture Mickey had taken of a Slitheen. Like it or not she would make the Doctor see that she chose her friends wisely.

Mickey's bedroom was a shrine littered with pictures, articles and printouts of everything and anything that had to do with Rose, the Doctor and the TARDIS. If the police had seen the state of his room then it was no wonder that they suspected him of being up to something crazy. Jackie wondered if he thought of anything else for a year as she watched Mickey run about the room clutching his mobile phone to his ear.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!" Explained Mickey to Rose, not feeling she got the situation like he did. Jackie even put in her own two cents and shouted over Mickey's shoulder at the phone's mouth piece that she could've died! Rose very much got the situation and wanted to make sure that her mother was unharmed. She didn't want to talk to her mother right now as she knew how she was in a crisis, she just wanted confirmation that she was safe. Mickey tried to say the affirmative but the Doctor, tired of domestics from humans, gently pulled the phone from Rose's hand and bellowed into it,

"Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." Mickey was pissed at the Doctor for his verbal abuse and hissed back,

"It's Mickey, and why should I?" Mickey didn't want his pride to be damaged anymore than it already was by this alien. The Doctor let out a sigh and in a pained defeated voice said,

"Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you." The biggest grin ever crossed Mickey's lips at these words from the argent, pompous, girlfriend stealing, Time and Space traveling alien. Glowing in victory over the supposed superior alien he marched over to his room where his computer sat.

Mickey's confident and victorious attitude had disappeared very quickly when he realized what it was that the Doctor had needed him to do. It was not a simple matter and if he got caught he would probably end up locked up in a small cell with a prison lover. The Doctor had him hacking into the UNIT defense website. He was now sweating bullets and very meekly declared that he was in and said,

"It says it needs a password."

Back in the Cabinet Room The Doctor had plugged Rose's mobile phone into the conference phone speaker. He was getting tired of passing it around and this would be far more time saving and efficient.

"Say again." Declared the Doctor having not heard what Mickey had said as he was attaching the phone speaker.

"It's asking for the password." Repeated Mickey. The Doctor explained that the pass word was Buffalo with two Fs and one L. Mickey then began punching in the code.

"So, what's that website?" Asked Jackie who was confused by the unfamiliar website's format. She didn't spend a great deal of time online to begin with.

"All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark." Grumbled Mickey with anger.

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." Snapped the Doctor getting irritated with Mickey's conspiracy banter which was not helping right now. Rose snapped back at the Doctor with as much force for him to leave Mickey alone and despite himself the Doctor backed off. Rose was pleased with herself and inside her head jokingly imagined the Doctor whimpering 'Yes, dear' to her.

"Thank you. Password again." Repeated Mickey, to which the Doctor stated that the same password would work every time. Mickey thought that was almost too easy but didn't question it. Needing both hands to type Mickey handed the phone off to Jackie so that everyone knew the phone was still connected. Jackie didn't know what to talk about, fighting aliens wasn't what she knew how to do. Jackie was about to say something just to fill the air when the Doctor began to speak over the phone.

"Big Ben, why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?" The Doctor asked the room, and Harriet assumed it was to gather the experts and kill them. The Doctor was not convinced that that was all. That lot would have gathered for a weather balloon after all.

"You don't need to crash land in the middle of London to get that lot to gather." He pondered in frustration. Rose agreed that putting the planet on Red alert when the Slitheen obviously wanted to stay hidden was a stupid plan. So what was it?

"What would they do that for?" She asked as the Doctor and Rose batted ideas off each other using space babble that was getting on Jackie's nerves.

"Oh, listen to her. You kidnap my girl and she comes back talking like this!" Sighed Jackie over the phone. Jackie swore to herself that provided they all lived past this night and long enough to reach the point, if she had to learn another language just to understand what her grandkids were saying, she'd ring that mad alien's neck. Rose was now annoyed at her mother and piped up that at least she was trying to solve the mystery.

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind." Declared Jackie over the phone and she continued,

"Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth." Rose sighed again why was her mother talking about all this now?

"I told you what happened." Rose said into the speaker frustrated.

"I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter, your wife, whether I like it or not, safe?" Questioned Jackie in earnest. Rose tried to explain that she was fine, but her mother continued questioning the Doctor.

"Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?" she begged the Doctor to answer. The Doctor just stared at the speaker on the table, he didn't know what to say. His life was dangerous and he knew it. He had brought Rose along for only a few adventures and each time they had narrowly escaped death. The reality was that he couldn't guarantee Rose's safety at anytime. Hell he couldn't even guarantee his own let alone another person. There would always be danger traveling through time and space. It was so dangerous that normally Gallifreyan children weren't even allowed to leave the planet until they had at least 100 years of education under their belt. If he were sensible he would leave Rose behind on Earth where it was relatively safe in comparison to life on the TARDIS. Rose would complain, be heartbroken, maybe eventually even come to hate him for abandoning her again, but wouldn't she be safer? Wasn't that the most important thing of all? More important than her happiness? Was she really even that happy with him, he had not done anything so far to make her very happy, he was trying but failing miserably. Still she was young and beautiful, surely she could find some other human bloke who could make her happier than he ever could, right? Normal for him was so abnormal to humans. He even said he couldn't give her a normal life, no white picket fence, no steady job, hell he couldn't even give her children. What life would she have with him in the long run? He didn't want to admit it and it was shameful, but the Doctor was probably too selfish to leave Rose now. He needed her, needed her company. He couldn't travel alone anymore it was too lonely in his head now. Jack was a great companion but Rose was more than a companion to him and he had grown accustomed to seeing this woman's face, like it or not. His thoughts were interrupted by Jackie, who piped up on the phone,

"Well, what's the answer?" But the Doctor was saved by the Mickey. Mickey announced that the codes had worked and was now on to the part of the site that the Doctor wanted. Grateful for the distraction the Doctor began to instruct Mickey on where to go and what to do on the website that was displaying a large world map.

"Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that." Mickey obeyed, and the world map was replaced with an oscilloscopic reading and was playing a sound. Mickey was confused and asked the Doctor what it was. The Doctor explained that it was a signal that the Slitheen were transmitting into space from a spaceship in the north and if he would just be quiet long enough, then the Doctor could work out what it was saying. Jackie not forgetting that her question was left unanswered declared that the Doctor would have to answer her one day. And the Doctor knew that he probably would, but right now he needed to sort out this….message!

"It's some sort of message." Announced the Doctor. Rose inquired as to what it was saying as she leaned slightly on the Doctor's shoulders as if being closer to the speaker would somehow help her understand it better.

"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating." Answered the Doctor as he tried to make it out, which wasn't easy with that dinging noise. The Doctor demanded quiet on Mickey's end, but he explained that it was the doorbell not him and asked Jackie to get it.

"It's three o'clock in the morning." Stated Jackie not believing how rude the person at the door was being.

"Well, go and tell them that." Snipped Mickey trying to help save the world.

"Okay, It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" The Doctor asked himself as Jackie, back in Mickey's flat, went to answer the rude person at the door. She swung open the door only to realize to her horror it was that Strictland man again, who she knew was really a tubby green alien!

"Mrs Tyler." Smiled Strictland sarcastically as he removed his hat in mock politeness. Jackie slammed the door on the alien's face and ran back in terror to Mickey.

"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!" She screamed in terror. Mickey conveyed the grim news to Rose and The Doctor that they had been found out. Undaunted by the situation the Doctor barked that he needed the signal and to stay on the line. Rose who was horrified and scared for her mother and Ex told Mickey to hang the signal and get her mother out of there! Realizing that there was nothing left to do then a last stand, Mickey grabbed for his baseball bat, hoping he could use it to defend Jackie and himself.

"Just get out! Get out!" Screamed Rose over the phone to her Ex and mother. Mickey very soberly replied that they could not because the only exit the front door had been compromised and they were boxed in. Mickey looked to the front door and saw a blue flashing light coming in from under the door. He swallowed hard.

"Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us. Rose if I never get another chance to say this, I think that if you had given us a chance, I could have made you happy." Mickey said into the phone, he then got up and brought his bat to the ready. Rose's heart sank if Mickey was saying this then he was pretty sure that he would be dead soon.

"There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!" Declared Harriet back in the sealed Cabinet Room in 10th Downing Street.

"I'm trying!" Shouted back the Doctor raking his very big brain for a solution. Mickey back in his flat took his stance to engage in mortal combat against an enemy that he had no hope of beating. The three could hear Mickey over the phone as well as the sound of splintering wood from a door.

"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back." Stated Mickey in a serious and sober tone.

Rose looked her husband in the eyes. Her very impressive, unbelievable husband who she knew could do anything. She needed him to help protect her family, his family now too technically. And in the most earnest and pleading voice to her mate, to the man who was suppose to be her lover, said,

"That's my mother." The Doctor took her plea to his hearts and knew nothing else than his absolute best would be acceptable. He had told himself that he wanted to try and make Rose happy and he was going to do it right now.

"Right, If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!" He shouted to the room, he needed the two women to give him any intelligence they had gathered on the aliens tonight. Desperate Rose called out the obvious,

"They're green." That didn't help much but he wasn't going to waste time complaining about obvious data.

"Yep, narrows it down." Rose knew that she needed to do better than that, she needed to give him good information or her mother was doomed.

"Good sense of smell." She piped out, to which the Doctor again confirmed that that narrowed it down.

"They can smell adrenalin." Declared Rose remembering the somewhat personal and creepy comment that had been made about her biology earlier.

"Narrows it down." Shouted the Doctor leaning his weight onto the big oaken table in front of him.

"The pig technology." Cried out Harriet wanting too to be helpful and save these two people's lives. The Doctor was running out of time.

"Narrows it down." Declared the Doctor again. 'Work you stupidly impressive brain, work!' The Doctor shouted off in his head, Rose is counting on you!

"The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" Inquired Rose. That was a bit more helpful reminder thought the Doctor and once more said that it narrowed down his choices. If he had sweat glands he would be sweating bullets now, The Doctor could hear the alien getting closer to Mickey and Jackie over the tinny speaker.

"They hunt like it's a ritual." Shouted Rose almost in hysterics praying that that clue would finally give the Doctor an answer.

"Narrows it down." Stated the Doctor now very frustrated with himself, but then Harriet made the key connection that finally got the ball rolling,

"Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er…"

"Bad breath!" Rose finished Harriet's sentence for her, and Harriet agreed on the smell.

"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" Grinned the Doctor and Rose felt a glimmer of hope seeing that familiar look on the Doctor's face.

"We're getting there, Mum!" Rose shouted into the phone to comfort her mother, but much to her despair, Mickey declared that it was too late, the front door would be down in moments. The Doctor was not giving up now, not when they were so close to an answer. And then it dawn on him and he had the solution to save his technically-still-his-wife's mother and slightly irritating friend.

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" Crowed the Doctor over the phone. Rose and Harriet just stared at the man until it finally dawned on them that the long word he had just said was the name of a planet.

"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Retorted Mickey sarcastically as the door finally fell apart and the alien was now inside the flat.

"Get into the kitchen!" Shouted the Doctor to Mickey through the speaker, which Jackie and Mickey readily obeyed. Mickey did his best to barricade the door, but Jackie was sure that the alien would just rip it apart. Mickey then held up his bat again and Jackie hid herself behind him. The Doctor was still grinning but steadfast and shouted into the phone,

"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" That's what would take care of these alien's vinegar. Harriet was glad that they had finally found a solution and proclaimed,

"Just like Hannibal!" The Doctor loved her analogy.

"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?" Asked the Doctor through the phone. However, Mickey with his heart racing and adrenaline pumping was drawing a blank on something as mundane as what he stocked in his kitchen.

"How should I know?" Asked Mickey over the phone in a very frightened voice as he listened to the alien try to smash its way through his kitchen door.

"It's your kitchen." Declared the Doctor as if it couldn't be any more obvious.

"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Shouted Rose who, knowing her Ex's habits, was sure that he had not moved anything pickled from his shelves in over a year easily. Jackie was becoming impatient with Mickey being the go-between in a conversation with her daughter and ripped the phone out of Mickey's hand.

"Oh, give it here. What do you need?" Asked Jackie as if her life depended on it, which it did. The Doctor shouted over the phone that anything with vinegar could be used as a weapon against these aliens. Having the key to her salvation Jackie expertly went through the contents of Mickey's shelves looking for food with vinegar in it and started pouring it into a plastic jug.

"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs." She squealed in delight as she added more vinegary things to the jug. Back in the Cabinet Room the Doctor turned up his nose in both disgust and amazement at the number of smelly preserves that Mickey had handy in his kitchen.

"And you've kissed this man?" Asked the Doctor of his technically-still-his-wife, while looking at her in disbelief at having ever done such an act with Mickey. He actually was finding that he didn't like the thought of Rose having ever kissed another man at all. Let alone the idea that other men had touched her before him, what a time to find out that he was possessive. Rose peeved by her husband's remark on her choice in men mentally flipped the Doctor the bird but continued listening intently to the speaker phone conversation relaying her Mother and Ex's life or death situation. Jackie had the jug in one hand while her arm was wrapped around Mickey's shoulder in fear as the alien broke down the kitchen door. Mickey raised his bat in defense as the alien stomped into the room and raised a scaly and slimy claw to his victims. Now close enough to spit on, Jackie instead threw the vinegary contents of the jug on to the Slitheen. It just stopped. Mickey and Jackie stood frozen to the spot waiting to see what would happen next. Would this work and save them or had they only made it angry. They didn't have long to wait to find out as after a long fart the creature exploded, covering the room and its two human occupants in green slimy innards and entrails of the alien that had stood before them. They were filthy but alive and safe from danger. Well except the danger of needing a hot shower.

"Hannibal?" Asked Rose, not understanding the reference that Harriet had made earlier with her limited academic knowledge. Harriet just smiled at the young woman and said,

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." 'Wow,' thought Rose, she did not know that.

"Oh. Well, there you go then." They raised their glasses of port in toast of the moment but unlike Harriet and the Doctor, Rose could not bear a seep. Her mother was now safe but her stomach was still all in knots from the worry she had felt from nearly being orphaned by slimy space monsters. Well at least holding the expensive drink in an expensive glass in an expensive looking room made her appear classy. And she wanted to show some sign of thanks to her husband for protecting their family.

Their victory would be short lived however, as the Slitheen through their link now knew that their family member, currently all over Mickey's kitchen, was now dead. Green had lost his patience and was now going to step up the time table for their plan. Green emerged from 10th Downing Street and into the media circle to deliver his 'plea' to the people of Earth. Mickey conveyed with horror to the Doctor and Rose over his mobile that Green had declared that the planet was at war with the aliens who had weapons of massive destruction. He also conveyed that his technicians had managed to hold up the attack of the aliens but they could not do so for much longer and that the Earth must strike before the aliens get the chance to. Therefore they needed the codes from the UN to attack the aliens with nuclear missiles as the alien mother ship was above the United Kingdom. The world quaked at this startling news and the UN naturally began preparations to vote on the Earth's next move.

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it." Snipped the Doctor. It was ridiculous but he knew that the Earthling apes would buy it.

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Asked Harriet, very afraid of the Doctor's answer. Rose indicated that everyone had believed the last alien hoax so why not this one? It was all so clear to the Doctor now. He had been an idiot to not think of it sooner.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." Explained the Doctor in a clinical manner as if he were reciting from a text book that no one ever read but should. Rose again felt the differences in her and the Doctor's species, but wanting to move the conversation in the direction that was now obvious, she declared,

"They release the defense code"

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." Hissed the Doctor, now very worried for this "Planet of the Apes". Harriet however, could not connect why they would do this, but the Doctor was getting a good idea. Walking over to the panel that controlled the lock down doors of the room, he flipped a button and the door slid open. The Slitheen were still there right up against the door, but the Doctor was not scared and held his ground. Scowling at the one still in the human suit, 'Margaret' he announced,

"You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked." Margaret was not upset that her plan had been found out, in fact she was very proud of what they were doing. After all this sneaking around and secrets she loved having the chance to gloat knowing no harm would come of it.

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away." Smiled Margaret to her 'prisoners'. Harriet was aghast. She couldn't understand why they were doing this to Earth and its people. What had they ever done to the Slitheen?

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" she inquired of the alien. Very coldly and without taking his judging eyes off the vile creatures declared,

"Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert." Margaret had a smile on her face like the cat that ate the canary and stated,

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel." The Doctor hissed that this plan was at the cost of five billion lives, but the Slitheen saw it as a bargain. The Doctor had now passed the judgment of a Time Lord onto the Slitheen and they would now abide by his terms or die by them. He would not have these money grubbing monsters turn a profit at the expense of the planet he loved and the race of people on it he also loved. Humans were imperfect, primitive, and sometimes just plain stupid, but they did not deserve what the Slitheen had in store for them. With his planet gone, this was now his adopted planet and he would defend it like it was his own home. Which in a sense it was. It was also Rose's home planet and he would rather die than see her have to witness the death of her planet like he had his. They would be fairly warned and if they continued to threaten the planet that Rose was standing on then the penalty was death. He only hoped that they would not make him come to that.

"I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you." Ordered the Doctor, but the Slitheen just laughed at him. Was he joking? He wasn't in any place to make demands. He was hiding in a little box.

"What, you? Trapped in your box?" Scoffed Margaret. The Doctor gave her a look that unnerved even a cold hearted killer like Margaret. 'He might be serious, but how would he do it?' asked the Slitheen of herself.

"Yes. Me." Answered the Doctor as he shuttered up the door. He had to be bluffing the Slitheen thought, but Margaret's face still carried a hint of worry.

**Author's Notes: Hey folks, like I said insomnia means more frequent updates. Tell me what you think, thanks.****  
**


	28. Chapter 28 - Saved the World

**Complicated**

**By the Plot Thinens**

Saved the World - Chapter 28

It was now dawn and Mickey and Jackie anxiously watched the American anchor woman on the television as she informed the public that the UN was gathering to discuss giving access to codes to shoot off nuclear missiles at the alien threat. She also went on to say that England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist. And that if the codes are released this could mean humanities' first interplanetary war! Jackie got up and moved over to Mickey who was on the phone with the Doctor and Rose as well as using his landline to try to call for help from whatever government agencies they could trust were not compromised by Slitheen.

"All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do." Implored Jackie to the Doctor through Mickey's phone. She was just as scared as any human being right now on Earth. The Doctor moved about the room pacing. Every so often he would cross his arms one way only to switch back the way his arms were before. Rose could tell that he was very upset, and battling over something in his mind. Rose knew that the Doctor had to make very big and high stakes choices in the past and doubted that it got any easier with time. She wanted to comfort him but she was afraid that any proximity to him that breached his space requirements would only prove a distraction. Although it would make her feel better and might possibly make him feel a little better, ultimately it was counterproductive to saving the Earth and she gave him his space. Harriet also was combing her mind for ideas to help save the planet from inside a locked box with only a phone line to the outside world as a resource. If only they had more acetic acid to dump on those aliens out there, they would stand a chance at personally warning somebody about the alien's bluff of weapons of massive devastation.

"We could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Suggested Harriet throwing her finger up in the air. They were all getting edgy waiting for Mickey to successfully reach help from somebody higher up the chain of command. Rose and Harriet were also showing fatigue from having been up all night trying to find a way to save the world along with Jackie and Mickey. While the Doctor was now quietly brooding up against one of the reinforced steel window covers.

"Mickey, any luck?" Asked Rose with clearly some nervousness and grogginess in her voice. Mickey sighed into the phone and replied,

"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail". Harriet groaned at their ironic situation and wiping her hand across her face declared,

"Voicemail dooms us all." She then grabbed the bottle of port and poured herself another glass. Rose threw her hands up in frustrations and shouted,

"If we could just get out of here." The Doctor who before was staring at the floor was now looking over to Rose. He didn't want to say this, but they were running out of time. If it had been just him alone in this situation then he would not have hesitated to do what needed to be done, but with Rose here that was a game changer. Rose was in danger because of him and he needed to protect her. She was his wife or at least would be in every sense of the word if not for the complications that he and his situation had piled on the two of them and their relationship. Before he was just a stupid ape without a care in the world other than what tie to wear in the morning, but as a war damaged and horrible monster who had not in his 'right mind' chosen Rose, he did not feel he deserved her or that he legitimately had a claim to her. He had done everything in his power to push this silly little ape away and yet here she still was as willing as ever to stick to her vows even when it turned out they were made to a person who had hidden everything from her even without knowing it. He found that her loyalty to him bordered on being about as mad as he was. He was dangerous and no good for her and she either didn't see that or didn't care and now if there was no other choice he was going to be forced to prove to her, once and for all, just how dangerous being with him was. And now she no longer had an option to walk away from him.

"There's a way out." Stated the Doctor grimly. Rose turned her head around surprised, not sure she had heard right and asked him to repeat what he had said.

"There's always been a way out." Repeated the Doctor to Rose. Rose really looked confused and a bit put off, this wasn't a game if there was a way out then they should use it.

"Then why don't we use it?" Rose asked puzzled. The Doctor then walked over to the large table, where the speaker sat, and leaning against the table to be closer to the speaker, declared in the most serious voice,

"Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe." Jackie gasped over hearing this news. What daft plan did this alien have now. And what danger was he putting Rose into?

"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you." Roared Jackie over the phone, in full-on mother bear mode. The Doctor took a deep breath looking down at the table. He then looked at the speaker and said in a voice that hinted of the knowledge from years of making hard decisions,

"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." Jackie wasn't making this any easier and he contemplated ways to make Jackie understand what the universe had always needed him to do. And that he did not enjoy or relish when he was forced to carry out acts like those that were required in situations like this one. He was sinking deep into the dark place that were all his bad memories when Rose's voice cut through the dark haze.

"Do it." Said Rose simply. The Doctor looked up at Rose and his heart warmed at the sight of her. Her trust in him was touching to his pained hearts. There was truly no one in the universe like Rose.

"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" Smiled the Doctor to Rose.

"Yeah." Answered Rose, she didn't want him to feel like she didn't trust him to save the world and she didn't want him thinking that it was all just his decision and she was just along for the ride. They were partners and this was a decision to be made together. Rose was giving her permission, the Doctor only needed to give himself permission. Jackie felt the Doctor's resolve breaking and Rose willingly sacrificing herself didn't put her any more at ease.

"Please, Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid." Begged Jackie into the phone,

"Do you think I don't know that?" asked the Doctor of Jackie. Rose became angry at that last comment and declared,

"I'm not a kid anymore, I'm a full grown woman and I can make my own decisions, Mum. And you didn't marry a kid. You married a woman, Doctor!" The Doctor was upset about the whole situation and Rose's comment didn't make him feel any better. And quite frankly he felt that John Smith had married a kid by comparison when the fob had been opened.

"Rose you're 20 years old, hell your mother is a child compare to me. Anyone who comes in contact with me risks dying before their time. And then I'm responsible for it, it all weighs on me! Me alone! Because this is my life, you hear that Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will." Explained the Doctor almost bitterly. Rose felt hurt at the Doctor's admittancethat he viewed her as a child, but what else was to be expected of a 900 year old? But he was the last of his kind now, and barring any other species she had never heard of, Rose was quite sure that he was never going to find anyone his own age again. So age to her didn't matter, but if it mattered to him, then she could live to be 100 years old and he might never be able to get past how young she was. What if that was also holding him back? What if he felt disgusted with himself at the idea of pursuing a relationship with someone her age? Well if this was a dangerous idea he had in mind either way if he went through with it or not she might never even live long enough to grow to the age her species saw as old, so what did it matter now? She wasn't suicidal she just felt action right now gave her more of a chance to live than inaction. The Doctor had to save the world and she had already made her decision he just needed to get moving with his.

"Then what're you waiting for?" Asked Rose, she trusted him and she knew that whatever decision he came to would be the best one to stop the Slitheen. And would have the best outcome if not for her than for the world. She was satisfied with that. So what was stopping him? He knew he had to do this, so why was he hesitating if he had already been forced to have young collateral in the past? If his words were any hint to the people who might have been lost because he had to make a tough decision before, What was different now? The Doctor looked pained at her question as if he were trying to think up the right thing to say to explain to her what he was feeling. He looked at Rose, she was so brave, perhaps to the point of foolishness. She didn't know what was at stake to him and he didn't know how to say it. What did he say to this amazing and bewitching woman? Yes, Rose was a woman, a woman who fate had for some reason thrown into his path. And now he had to risk her life because fate had handed him her, what did he say to her? Giving up on it he just said exactly what was soberly in his hearts and with worry in his voice he replied,

"I could save the world but lose you." It was probably very inappropriate given the situation but a hint of a smile graced Rose's face upon hearing the Doctor's words. That was completely unexpected. This was the closest sounding or hinting thing that she had heard from the Doctor in regards to his romantic feelings or at least attachment to her. Sure in the cellar he had said he was glad he met her, but that was still a platonic statement. He was all but saying that he didn't want to be without her. Or that the world wasn't worth losing her over, which was incredibly romantic, but now was not the time to be honest. What were they to do if the Doctor wasn't willing to risk her to save the world? Harriet could also see the impasse. The Doctor knew how to save the world but he didn't know how to save the world without putting Rose in danger and he would not risk Rose's life of his own accord. The solution seemed simple enough. Take the decision out of his hands and let him be guilt free for doing what needed to be done.

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Announced Harriet Jones to the room. Jackie was affronted by what she heard over the mobile phone and in a voice, not very polite, hissed,

"And who the hell are you?" Harriet stood up tall and proud and in a voice that breathed authority and confidence declared,

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it." The Doctor and Rose just stared at the woman who more or less had been a bit of a mouse before, a brave mouse but a mouse none the less. And she was right, she was the representative of the people of this country and the law. And the Doctor for now was subject to the law of this time until he was back in the TARDIS. If he would ever actually see it again. However, now that it wasn't his decision anymore he felt a great burden lifted and began to make preparations for their means of escape, defeating the aliens and saving the Earth from itself.

"How do we get out?" Asked Rose, crawling up on the table to not only get a better look at what the Doctor was doing but to also be closer to him. The Doctor scrutinized the emergency protocol papers inside the red box and smiled,

"We don't. We stay here." Whatever the Doctor was planning he better hurry up thought Jackie as she looked over to the television. Jackie clutched Mickey's mobile closer to her face when she heard that the UN was now voting on whether to give out the nuclear codes any moment now. The Doctor told Jackie to hand the phone off to Mickey and the Time Lord began reading off instructions and override codes. Mickey again punched in the buffalo password and he had access to everything on the government website he had been directed to by the Doctor.

"What're you doing?" asked Jackie not understanding again anything on the screen. Even more nervous from fatigue and the gravity of the situation, Mickey simply stated,

"Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth." The Doctor told Mickey that he needed to select and missile, but Mickey began to panic.

"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes." Said Mickey whimpering a little.

"We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile." Explained the Doctor to calm down the man. After some searching a missile, a Sub Harpoon UGM-A4A was chosen. All Mickey had to do now was fire it.

"I could stop you." Said Jackie to Mickey when she realized that Mickey was about to shoot a long range missile at her daughter's location. It was the only way to stop the aliens they had to blow up 10th Downing Street where Slitheen were all gathered and also where Rose, Harriet and the Doctor were trapped. The gravity of their predicament was not lost on Mickey and gulping he told her,

"Do it, then." She couldn't stop him, the woman knew it had to be done. Jackie with a heavy heart stepped back and let Mickey try to save the world all the while praying that the price of saving the world was not her only child's life.

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands. Fire." Stated the Doctor and with a click of the mouse, Mickey had launched a rocket.

"Oh, my God." Cried out Jackie not knowing what would happen next but assumed that it would not be good.

Death was literally coming from above and soon and now Harriet and Rose were weighing their options for survival.

"How solid are these?" Asked Harriet about the walls to the Doctor. She figured that he had know what they could stand since the Doctor knew about them in the first place.

"Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big." Explained the Doctor with very little optimism.

"All right, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on." Shouted Rose back to Harriet and the Doctor.

Actually that wasn't really the case, thought the Doctor. You could very well die in a door frame if the structure collapsed on top of you, just how a table you hide under could crush you if enough weight fell on top of it. And the size of the cupboard didn't really make a difference either against a missile. But the Doctor reasoned that false hope was better than no hope at all, so he would go along with his wife's final wishes. If she wanted anything he probably would do it just to make her happy in her final moments. He had been such a prat to her the least he could do now was not question her for once. Rose and Harriet began to move everything including the bodies of the two dead men back out of the cupboard. The last thing they wanted was anything falling on them inside the small closet.

The Missile was making its way to Downing Street and naturally military was trying to intercept it. However with instructions from the Doctor, Mickey easily prevented any tampering with the missile's path and its important mission. Mickey calmly read off the defense missiles he had neutralized and confirmed that nothing was going to stop it now. Mickey wished them luck and the Doctor hung up the phone, there was nothing else left to do and Jackie didn't need to hear what was coming next over the phone. They had to prepare for impact and tearful goodbyes wouldn't do anyone any good now. The approaching missile did not go unnoticed by the humans at 10th Downing Street, having been sent word of the approaching missile they began to evacuate the area. Attempting to save the acting PM the head policeman ran up the quarantined staircase to the PM office only to find not Green, Asquith or Margaret, but aliens! The officer sheepishly squeaked out an apology and ran from the room. They had been fooled and there really were aliens in 10th Downing just like the Doctor had said.  
**  
**  
Rose, the Doctor and Harriet huddled together in the closet that they had cleared and were bracing for impact. All three of them then linked hands. The Doctor knew that this could be 'it' yet again. He'd never been in an explosion from a missile before, maybe there would be enough left of him, if the room didn't hold, to regenerate. But for Rose this could be 'it.' She might die. He could save the current other 5 billion people on this planet but at the cost of Rose. Oh how it hurt. He knew that once the missile hit that might be his last chance to express any form of affection he held toward Rose. Unfortunately, he had an audience and he didn't feel selfish enough to focus all his attention on Rose and leave poor Harriet to die alone with no hands to hold for comfort. And looking into Rose's eyes, he knew that she felt that way to. When had he learned to read her without words? He wondered quickly. They were all in this together and that was how it was going to end. Still the Doctor couldn't resist one final act suitable in the eyes of company. Not unlinking his hands with anyone in the closet he leaned over to Rose and did one of the most intimate things a time lord could do. He rested his temple against Rose's. To a human the meaning might be lost and just seen as sweet, but to a Time Lord it was the most solemn of goodbyes. Rose felt tears in her eyes and rested her head up against the Doctor's harder, but then the Doctor pulled away. Rose had hoped that he would have kept his head there and looked hurt at it being over too soon. It had felt so nice and such a warm feeling had washed over her.

"When that hits, the force will knock our heads together and could kill us. Believe me I know head injuries, Rose. We stand a better chance the way we all are now." Explained the Doctor in a hurry not knowing how much time remained. Rose nodded the affirmative and clutched his hand tighter.

"Here we go. Nice knowing you both. Hannibal!" Smiled Jones to the couple. The two nodded back to Jones and waited for the missile to come. They did not have to wait long and a loud KABOOM was heard followed by the world turning upside down. The group began to roll about in the metal box in the dark of what was the cabinet room. Somewhere in the confusion the Doctor had grabbed Rose when she started to fly over the Doctor's head and pulled her flush against him. It was instinct and they both clung to each other while Harriet managed to hug their legs for balance to something. The last creak of metal was heard followed by a crash.

"Are we dead?" asked Rose who could only feel three sensations: One it was dark, two: she felt the Doctor's chest pressed against hers and three: pain from muscles that would be sure to bruise later from all the tumbling. He heard Rose's voice and the Time Lord realized that it wasn't goodbye this time. The Doctor pulled Rose even closer to him and rejoiced in the fact that he could still feel her living beating heart against his chest. It was beating faster than normal but adrenaline did that to a human. Over come with joy, The Doctor In a somewhat husky and smooth voice leaned his mouth closer to where he assumed was Rose's ear and replied,

"Not yet, Rose Tyler. We're just in the dark together, waiting to be rescuOoow! Oi, what is this in my back, a heel?"

"Sorry that's mine." Apologized Harriet as she reached in the dark for her shoe that had fallen off during the explosion. That had killed the mood and the Doctor was now itching to get out of what was left of the Cabinet Room. Finding his Sonic, he untangled himself from Rose and began looking for an exit.

Time Lord's weren't the strongest of species in the universe but they were stronger than humans. And the Doctor was easily stronger than the average male human. Once he had located what was once the steel door to the cabinet room, The Doctor with a mighty push set the door crashing to the ground and let in the light and air of the outside world. Harriet was the first to step out on the smoking pile of rubble and debris that was once 10th Downing Street, proudly stating,

"Made in Britain." She then gave the metal wall a small pat to praise the local craftsmanship of her countrymen. Amazingly no one at the lower levels in Downing Street had been injured in the explosion and now the police were combing the ruins for any survivors who might not have gotten out.

"Oh, my God. Are you all right?" Asked a policeman who came through the dust. The Doctor noted that it was the same officer who had not believed him that aliens were a foot in the building. For whatever reason now he was not trying to arrest him, so the Doctor figured that the gun totting apes must have finally caught on. All he wanted to do now was go back to the TARDIS and change into some clean clothes for once. He didn't feel like Sonicing them clean now when he could just throw on a clean and untorn jumper from his room. Oh wait, Rose was in there now. Well she wouldn't mind if he just popped in real fast to get some things out of the drawers here and there. The Doctor was removed from his thoughts when he realized that Jones was talking or rather giving orders to the Policeman,

"Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news." Not even questioning it the officer went to do Harriet's bidding.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister." Declared Harriet now very worried. The Doctor just smiled at the woman and suggested,

"Maybe you should have a go." Harriet just laughed, she was flattered but that would never happen.

"Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher." Rose merely smiled and piped up that she would vote for Harriet if she ran for the office.

"Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" Smiled Jones to her friends but then got very serious and raising her hands up in the air began to shout to the press gathered down the street as she made her way down the pile of rubble.

"We're safe! The Earth is safe!"

"I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." Grinned the Doctor knowingly as he watched the woman walk into history and her future. Harriet found that it was easy to get the attention of the confused press and informed them that the crisis had now passed and that they were all safe. The Doctor and Rose then took this as their cue to head back to the Powell Estate.

"I am so glad we are not dead." Smiled Rose to the Doctor as she let out a relaxed breath of air. The Doctor then took Rose's hand and grinned back,

"Me too, because let's face it we would have made terrible corpses."

"You're not kidding me, let's avoid having to blow ourselves up again if we can help it, yeah? Well, I don't think we can count on a limo escort this time, we better find us a bus." Replied Rose in a similar light hearted mood. After being on adrenaline and stressed out for hours Rose could finally relax. Rose was now feeling quite sleepy actually, and the Doctor had noticed. As they made their way back to the Estate Rose was walking in a daze while sleepily leaning her head against the Doctor's leather clad arm. The Doctor knowing that she was tired decided that it wasn't beneath his Time Lord self to play pillow for a tired Rose Tyler after she helped stop World War III and they looked the very picture of a happy couple as they walked the few blocks to the closest bus stop. The Doctor was a bit annoyed at having to rely on such a slow means of transportation to get back to his TARDIS, but it was better than walking and Rose was too tired. Silly little humans just loved sleep so much, he chuckled to himself as the bus stopped in front of them. Rose half groggily expressed concern for fare, but the Doctor had that covered. Taking out his psychic paper he flashed it up to the bus driver and they were allowed on. The Doctor and Rose made their way to the back of the bus and The Doctor let Rose get in first. He didn't want her falling into the aisle if she fell asleep after all. The Doctor had thought that Rose was just going to lean up against the window on the side of the bus, but she did just the opposite. She nestled herself against the Doctor's side and rested her head on his chest. The Doctor, worried that she might fall forward in that position, leaned back against the seat and put his arm around Rose waist similar to how Rose had placed his arm around her back in the limo. He hoped that it was comfortable since that was how Rose had preferred his hand to be last night. The Doctor then not knowing what to do with his head rested it on top of Rose's head. They then settled down for the bumpy 45 minute ride to the estate. Or at least that was how long the Doctor guessed it would take the bus to move in this traffic. It turned out to take a bit longer than that with the streets still being a crazy mess from all the activities the crisis had brought on locally. But the ride was pleasant and the company amiable so the Doctor was not going to complain.

Still the Doctor could not be completely in active. Taking advantage of the fact that his arm was across Rose's hip, he slipped his hand into her pocket. Rose moaned in her sleep slightly at the contact and the Doctor very nervously continued on his mission. Not wanting to wake her he carefully pulled out Rose's mobile phone. It had been damaged when they were being thrown about in the explosion. Rose had tried earlier when they were making their way through the rubble to the street to call her mother and let her know that she was not dead, but much to her dismay it was not working and she had sadly placed it back into her pocket. Her mother would have to wait a little while longer to hear from her. Still keeping his grip on Rose in the bus seat he pulled out his sonic and very quietly began to work and mend the damaged phone. A few parts had come undone and broken but a few bits and bobs added on from his pockets made excellent replacement parts. In about 20 minutes the Doctor had repaired the Mobile and Rose officially once more had the most posh mobile phone ever in the year of 2006. He then went to place it back into her pocket but not before adding another number into her phone's address book. Now safely back in her pocket the Doctor settled down into the seat with Rose up against him. Though he couldn't help but blush a bit as Rose in her sleep managed to find one bit of his skin above his jumper to kiss before continuing on with her drooling sleep. 'Silly little human' the Doctor thought affectionately. He then noticed an older man two seats ahead staring at Rose. Rose was currently somewhat scandalously splayed over the Doctor and he was realizing that the nosy observer was finding her seating arrangements fascinating. 'Dirty old git,' thought the Doctor and the Time Lord wiped the smile off his face to stare daggers at the human he saw as a peeping Tom.

"Oi, bugger off." Hissed the Doctor to the man under his breath threateningly. The man turned around nervously but the Doctor continued to watch about the bus with an icy glare, jealously guarding his sleeping Rose.

About 45 minutes into the ride, Rose had stirred awake and as she came back to the waking world realized without looking up at the Doctor where she was. She was lying against the Doctor being soothed by his twin hearts. Twin hearts, that was something to get used to but it wasn't unpleasant just a little weird. She also realized that sharing a bus seat this close together was the closest they had been to sleeping in the same bed in days. She was using him as a pillow and this somewhat clean bus was her mobile bed for at least a few minutes more. She was about to bury her head in his chest and just take in his scent as she drifted back to sleep but then the Doctor piped up,

"Oi now Rose, time to get up. There's your mum's." Rose was disappointed but knew she needed to see her mother. Jackie wouldn't feel better until she knew that her daughter was safe. The Doctor and Rose parted ways in front of the apartment building. He was to do maintenance on the TARDIS while Rose sorted out things with her mother. Rose was disappointed that he wasn't coming up with her but she had expected it. Not sure herself of the reception that she would get Rose was now fully awake as she climbed the stairs to her mother's flat. Her worries were groundless she found though, because the moment she came into her mother's sight Jackie barreled into her daughter's arms. She was safe, and Jackie clutched her daughter while crying tears of joy that her daughter was returned to her unharmed. Even after having a missile fired at her! Rose felt that now was as good a time to give her mother more of the story and with a deep breath began her tale.

"Mum, the whole John Doctor thing is… well its complicated just let me explain that to you now. And first off I want you to know that it's nobody's fault that things turned out as they did…." Started Rose as she began what was easily going to be an hour lecture about John's transformation to the Doctor. She'd save talking about the Doctor himself for later, or possibly if he were will let him explain who he was to her mother.

Rose and Jackie had had their turns at the shower and when they had emerged found Harriet Jones on every channel. Jones was the big name all over the television, her speech and reassurance that the threat was gone was on a loop the whole day. Jackie was livid, she felt that the woman was taking all the credit for something her daughter did. She didn't know how Rose could just sit there on the sofa and not be miffed over not getting her far share of thanks from the world.

"Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there. My daughter saved the world!" Shouted Jackie to the television. Rose sighed and matter-of-factly declared,

"I think the Doctor helped a bit." Jackie couldn't deny this and the Doctor did return Rose unharmed. So as if it were almost painful she huffed out,

"All right, then. Him too." Jackie then fell into the sofa next to Rose and announced,

"You should be given knighthoods." Once more Rose let out a little sigh. Rose didn't care about the credit and neither did the Doctor. That just wasn't how it worked. They didn't stick around to deal with the aftermath and sticking around to answer questions that came with credit could spell danger for both of them. All Rose cared about was that they were safe and could keep traveling together. Besides who cared about prestige when your husband was lord of all time and space? That was a nice enough feather in her cap as it was.

"That's not the way he does things. No fuss. He just moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance." Elucidated Rose as she tried to explain and defend her husband to her mother. Jackie tightened her lips a bit and finally gave in.

"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." Stated Jackie. Rose let out a small laugh and snickered,

"Oh, now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about my husband." Maybe there was hope for this dysfunctional family yet. It would be wonderful if her mother and husband got along better. Then Rose wouldn't feel so caught in the middle. It wasn't proving easy so far to juggle domestic life with the Doctor's mandated un-domestic life. In fact the flip flopping and transitions was proving quite difficult.

"Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since, one: you insist you're married to em and two: you're infatuated with em and this life he leads." Scoffed Jackie. Rose just rolled her eyes and replied,

"Well if I wasn't infatuated with my husband and happy to travel with em then there would be a problem in my marriage, yeah?" Jackie didn't have anything to say to his so she thought of something else to talk about. She wondered if now that John had turned into the Doctor after that fob thingy, did he still eat like people do? That was a very good question actually.

"What does he eat?" questioned Jackie leaning a little forward in her seat.

"How do you mean, mum? He eats the same as he always has, cept he hates pears like they murder puppies." Declared Rose to her bemused mother. Rose knew that she needed time to adjust to having an alien husband, heck she was still adjusting. So lots of odd questions about Jackie's alien son-in-law were to be expected.

"I was going to do shepherd's pie. All of us. A proper sit down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien now. Before he was just some 40 year old git I thought was preying on my baby girl's youth and looks. Starting to think I would have preferred em when he was John as you said. Aliens, marrying into the family. Blimey, how's the menu gonna look around Christmas time? For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things." Rambled Jackie. To be honest her rambling might have also been more a result of feeling a little bit of guilt. Jackie felt terrible for when it boiled down to it, betraying her family and selling them out. If she hadn't called the authorities then maybe Rose wouldn't have been put in harm's way in the first place. She wasn't going to make that mistake again. Like it or not that alien was family now and she was going to protect him as she would protect her daughter as well as Rose's happiness. Rose however was not aware of the guilt Jackie felt. Still trying to win over her mother, Rose contained her smirking when she answered,

"He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?" Jackie looked a little annoyed at her daughter's cheeky comment and wanted to know just what was wrong with wanting to make dinner for a sit down with her daughter and her husband? Wasn't that what mother-in-laws were supposed to do?

"He's finally met his match." Giggled Rose, know that her mother was many things but an excellent cook was arguable depending on the dish and the time her mother was actually willing to put into it. Takeaway was more Jackie's style.

"You're not too old for a slap, you know." Grumbled Jackie to her daughter in mock seriousness. She couldn't be too upset, she had her baby girl back now. Surely after such an ordeal Rose would be sticking around for a least a few days. Or maybe the 'Smiths' would go back to the university life for a bit, if Jackie was lucky. Either way Jackie had Rose back and she was going to make plans around her. Rose's grandmother hadn't even seen her granddaughter in a year. To be honest the truth, that Rose had disappeared or worse, had been too grim to give to the ailing woman and Jackie had kept the information from her mother for as long as she could and Jackie suffered alone for a year because of it.

"You can go and visit your Gran tomorrow. You'd better learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing. And if you want a change of clothes I got what you left behind and some of your favorite stuff I nicked from your house over the last year. It's all in your drawers in your room." Trailed off Jackie and she went into the kitchen to fetch them both a cup of tea. Rose relaxed her muscles and leaned back into the sofa for what would probably be a little nap when she heard her phone go off. Which was strange because she knew that she had put it on silent mode. She didn't want to be interrupted by anyone while she smoothed things over with her mother. She was even more amazed that the caller ID read TARDIS. The TARDIS was calling her mobile, 'checking up on the missus how domestic.' Thought Rose with a smile. She put the phone up to her ear and answered it.

"Hello?" She asked still not believing the ID.

"Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go." Announced the Doctor sounding quite anxious to be on their way. He didn't like staying too long after shenanigans. Just sticking around in the same place for a few hours after an adventure was pushing it for him.

"You've got a phone?" asked Rose in disbelief that he would have something so normal. The Doctor was a bit insulted at the thought that he didn't have something as simple as a voice communicator on his TARDIS as he clutched the 1970's Trimphone to his ear, his phone was even retro of all things.

"You think I can travel through space and time and I haven't got a phone? Like I said, couple of hours. I've just got to send out this dispersal." Explained the Doctor as he pushed a button and cancelled out the signal that the Slitheen were transmitting.

"There you go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up." He smiled even though Rose couldn't see him. Rose was a little surprised that they would be on their way so fast after that adventure but decided to be bold. The Doctor was in a good mood and high on 'I just saved the world' surely he wouldn't object to sticking around a bit longer for dinner.

"Er, my mother's cooking." Declared Rose in a voice that she was making soft and inviting on purpose to entice him to agree to her mother's plans. She hoped it would have some effect on him. However, much to her disappointment the Doctor shot back with sarcasm like he didn't understand what Rose was trying to get at. At least she hoped it was sarcasm, he was alien after all.

"Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer." He smirked. Rose was annoyed and tried to clarify what she meant,

"She's cooking tea. For **us**." Emphasis on the Us! This was very close to her mother actually accepting their relationship in human terms. Which made it more aggravating when the Doctor replied,

"I don't do that." The damn domestics again. He had no problem having a meal or socializing with people from the past or future. What was so different about having dinner with her Mum then? She knew that she agreed to no domestics but couldn't he just be a little for her. It would certainly make her life easier as well as her mother's. Didn't he care enough about her to do that yet?

"She wants to get to know you." Rose whispered almost conspiratorially as if she were hinting that this was the Doctor's chance to finally get in good with his mother-in-law and was a 'too good to be true' opportunity that would be silly to pass up. The Doctor leaned back as he clutched the trimphone attached to his console.

"Tough. I've got better things to do." He had all of time and space at his finger tips, the best places, restaurants, and food at his disposal and the last of the Mighty Time Lords wasn't going to sit in a tiny flat with his technically-still-his-mother-in-law eating whatever dodgy food Jackie could dig up. Why couldn't Rose just forget domestics, was that so hard to do? Human's were almost incapable of it he figured.

"It's just tea." Explained Rose into the phone, feeling that her husband's antisocial behavior was ridiculous.

"Not to me it isn't." Stated the Doctor, to him it mean domestics. To him it meant settling down. To him it meant family and family meant having a family to lose. He didn't want to move forward he just wanted to stay in the moment and not worry about the future.

"She's my mother." Rose declared now annoyed with her husband's desire to avoid Jackie and now 'his' family life completely. She knew that he didn't do domestics but it was just a bloody cup of tea and free meal!

"Well, she's not mine." Retorted the Doctor,

"That's not fair. And she is your mother, your mother-in-law now, like it or not." Growled Rose in the phone her patience gone.

"Well, you can stay there if you want." Stated the Doctor as if it were nothing and Rose's heart jumped with the spike of fear of being left behind again. Then as if sensing her fear the Doctor's tone changed.

"But right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere. Your choice." Smiled the Doctor knowing that he had the upper hand. Rose had to admit that that sounded a lot more exciting than dinner at mum's, there really wasn't a comparison. And that had been really hot sounding if she were painfully honest with herself. It was pathetic how even now, as the Doctor, just his voice could get her motor running. Was what she just heard the equivalent of Time Lord phone sex? Because she was feeling turned on and the wanderlust was back in her full force. She didn't want to be left behind if she got to experience such a wonder with the Doctor at her side. She chewed a bit on the top of her phone, confused as what to do. Then she decided. 'I'm so sorry Mum but plans are cancelled maybe next time.' Thought Rose as she rushed to her old room to gather some of her clothes her mother had brought from the Smith house over the past year. Her mom had indeed taken most of her favorite outfits back with her to the flat and Rose was now packing them into a red camping bag.

"Rose, I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink?" Asked Jackie as she looked about the flat for Rose. Finally coming into Rose's old room she saw Rose packing her old rucksack and Jackie's heart sunk and filled with fear. Still holding on to the hope that Rose might stay longer and wanting to continue on with her plans of dinner tonight and not the idea of Rose taking off again in the TARDIS she meekly asked again,

"I was wondering whether he drinks or not." Rose without even turning her head confirmed that the Doctor did drink as she continued to pack. Jackie knew now that Rose was leaving again and it terrified her. What if she was a way even longer than the last time, she didn't think she could survive another year alone without seeing her daughter.

"Don't go, sweetheart. Please don't go." Begged Jackie to Rose knowing that nothing was going to stop her daughter from traveling with the Doctor.

**Author's Notes: **Bonus insomnia update! Tell me what you think guys so I have something to read instead of just staring at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come. Really hope there are no spelling errors. I've been trying to watch out for that.


	29. Chapter 29 - Goodbyes and memories

**Complicated **

**By the Plot Thinens  
**

**Goodbyes and memories - Chapter 29**

"Oi how did that get there?!" Hollered the Doctor when he saw the two words spray painted onto his very magnificent time ship. Some git had sprayed the words 'Bad Wolf' on the side of the TARDIS. This could not stand and after fifteen minutes of reviewing the TARDIS's security vid scans the Doctor not only found the culprit but also located his point of origin. So imagine the surprise on the boy and his parents' faces when according to his ID badge, an official council inspector of juvenile delinquency arrived at the little brat's door with evidence implicating that he had vandalized police property. His parents apologized profusely and were very grateful that the court case and fine could be over looked as a first time offense if the child would right away clean up the surface the boy had defaced. So within ten minutes the parents had ushered their boy with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge to the police box and ordered him not to come back inside until the spray paint was removed. Mickey who had stationed himself outside the TARDIS while reading the paper sort of became the boy's overseer and would on occasion look over his paper and cough when the boy would slow down on his scrubbing. After an hour of hard scrubbing the TARDIS finally decided to let up on the paint and the boy at last was able to remove the graffiti from the time ship's side. At this point the Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS and said in a chastising voice,

"Good lad. Graffiti that again and I'll have you. Now, beat it." The boy took the Doctor's advice and with tired arms picked up the bucket and ran back to his parents' flat for what he assumed would be additional punishment. Mickey now seeing that the Doctor had a minute hopped off his perch and held up his newspaper,

"I just went down the shop, and I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is." Mickey made a face of disgust as the Doctor read the headline that the Alien crash landing was a Hoax. The idea that the government thought the people were so stupid and would believe anything they read was ridiculous to Mickey. Surely they were better than this? Surely they could handle the truth.

"How could they do that? They saw it." Asked Mickey almost imploring. The Doctor just shrugged his shoulders and sighed,

"They're just not ready. You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face, nope, can't see it. There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick." Mickey had to laugh a little and declared,

"We're just idiots." Now the Doctor knew plenty of humans, even annoying ones too and he knew for a fact that all humans were not idiots. Especially not Mickey, he might be naïve, inexperienced and a bit awkward at times but he wasn't an idiot….At least not all the time. Still the Doctor wouldn't have been able to save the world without Mickey so he felt it was only fair to answer,

"Well, not all of you are idiots." Mickey was pretty sure that the Doctor was referring to him, if he wasn't an idiot that is. He didn't know why it affected him so positively to hear that from the Doctor. He had been a jerk to Mickey at every opportunity but something about earning this ass of an alien's respect, even if said alien was reluctant to do so at first, by Mickey's own resourcefulness and skills meant something to the young man. The Doctor then handed Mickey a CD as a 'present'. Smiling the Doctor explained,

"That's a virus. Put it online. It'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist." Mickey looked puzzled by the Doctor's request.

"What do you want to do that for?" Questioned the young man. Once more the Doctor felt a bit pained to say the words but not nearly as much as he had been back when they were trapped in 10th Downing.

"Because you're right, I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me. And if I'm going to keep Rose safe then I don't need some nosy people trying to poke into my business. No one having information on me is the best way to protect Rose from danger when she travels with me." Stated the Doctor as Rose, saddled down with a heavy rucksack, and Jackie started making their way out of the apartment building towards the TARDIS.

"You know that it's dangerous for her and yet you still want to take her with you? How can you say that if you love her, Doctor? Wouldn't it just be safer if you just disappeared? She was happy with me until you came along. She wouldn't have been miserable." Said Mickey in a voice that contained no malice, only genuine concern for Rose.

"I've tried to leave her behind before and it doesn't seem to work Mickey, she keeps coming back to me and usually if I leave her alone long enough she finds danger anyway. There is a chance that she might be safer without me around, but the past so far as I know has proven her to be a magnet for attracting danger on her own. She's seen the dangers and risks, but for some reason she still wants to travel with me. I've stopped discouraging her, it only does the opposite. Besides if I were to abandon her now, do you think it would make Rose happy? I'm going to try to make her happy as best as I can. It may never be exactly the way she would like but I will try. And if, for now, traveling with me makes her happy then I'm going to let her. Who knows, one day it might not make her happy anymore. She might want more from life than I can offer her and then she might come back to her old life. But until that day I will protect her." Stated the Doctor to Mickey. That last bit had been rather painful to the Doctor actually. It wasn't a maybe that Rose would leave, they all left one day. It was most likely that one day Rose would lose her patience with him and his decidedly not human social interactions with her and the people around them. Or she would want to settle down into a quiet life once she had her fun and the Doctor could not. Or when her bio-clock started ticking away and she realized that all she had to look forward to as she ages was, paradoxically, lonely solitude with a dark and dingy Time Lord. Then she would want to find someone a bit more human to spend her life with. He knew this and there was probably very little even with effort that he could do to avert it. That's why he didn't want to get attached anymore, because everything dies, everything and everyone leaves him. He knows that it is coming but just not when and that was probably the greatest curse of all. Or maybe the curse was that he would always take on companions and always grow close to them.

"But you can't guarantee her safety and that all I want. I just want her safe, Doctor. I want to see that she is okay, not worry about what's happening to her." Explained Mickey. The Doctor looked at the man weighing his options on what to do about him. On the one hand he liked having Rose to himself, he still wasn't sure as to what if anything he was going to do about his relationship with Rose, but he liked her company. On the other hand having a familiar human on board might help Rose in ways that the Time Lord was failing at as far as comfort went at the moment. Then a flash of jealousy went through his mind from he knew not where. He was actually failing at a lot of forms of reassurance and he didn't want to have to share comforting Rose with anyone. He definitely wasn't too keen on Rose finding comfort of any kind with another man while on his TARDIS. But as quick as the jealous streak came, it went away. Rose wasn't a prisoner for him to keep in isolation, if it made Rose happy to have Mickey along then what made Rose happy made him happy. Having Mickey along might even help her decide faster if she really wanted her life with the Doctor or if a normal bloke with a normal life was what she really sought. After all if it took her a few months over a few years to finally see that the Doctor was the wrong choice then it would save him more hearts ache, correct? Surely you wouldn't be as attached to someone you only knew for a few months over a few years, right? Somehow the Doctor knew that this would not be the case, it probably would hurt just as much, but perhaps if she left of her own will and was out of sight, then she would be out of his big mind too in about 100 years or so. It would take a lot of distractions to not think about her during that time but he was very good at distracting himself from life. So with only a hint of regret in his voice for making the offer the Doctor suggested,

"You could help look after her if you are so worried. Come with us." And he had now officially made an offer to kill any alone time he had left with Rose before picking up Jack. It would be decidedly less fun but having Mickey along might make Rose's 'mother bear' more relaxed as well. Mickey looked amazed at the offer and then a bit scared as he looked at the TARDIS.

"I can't. This life of yours, it's just too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell her I said that." Whispered Mickey so that the two approaching women couldn't hear him. Rose was marching up to the TARDIS with her mother begging Rose to reconsider going off with the Doctor again. Jackie could be heard rambling,

"I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will. You don't need to go with him, I'll change whatever bad habit you want that are a bother! Things won't be as rough as they used to be, just please don't leave." Rose put her arms around her mother to calm and steady her. Then with an optimistic smile she said,

"I'm not leaving because of you. I'm travelling with my husband, we wanted to before and now we can. That's all, and then I'll come back and see you. I plan to visit you, mum. I'm not cutting you off from my life, I'm just moving to the next chapter of my life is all." Jackie was even more desperate now that she was feeling that she was losing the battle with no hope of recovery.

"But it's not safe." Rose gave her mother a heartfelt smile, she didn't want to worry her or upset her, but Rose had to live her life. She was a grown woman now and had a life to lead all her own now. And what a life it was going to be seeing the stars together with the Doctor.

"Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home." Explained Rose trying to make her mother see why there was no fighting the wanderlust the young blond felt. Rose then slung her pack around and tossed it at the Doctor.

"Catch." Rose giggled to the surprised Time Lord as he had to compensate for the sudden weight change. The Doctor then made a gruff comment inquiring if she had enough stuff and that maybe her kitchen sink was missing. Rose pointed to the Doctor with a smirking grin and declared,

"Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now the Missus is signing up long term. You're stuck with me, hubby." The Doctor pinked slightly and looked uneasy from Rose's comment but a slight clearing of his throat and cough seemed to restore his previous manner. Rose then brought her attention to the person she had not spoken to yet at this little gathering, Mickey. He looked downcast and very much like a sad puppy. Mickey had done so much for them and had not asked for anything in return. She couldn't just leave him again like she had last time. Maybe she could offer him a trip in the TARDIS so that he could feel more at ease knowing what she was doing. Or at least see if the Doctor really did get every sports channel for him to watch on the TARDIS.

"You know you could come with us. There's plenty of room." Suggested Rose while holding her breath that the Doctor would not object to her suggestion. She knew that Mickey and the Doctor didn't quite see eye to eye.

"No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board." Rose was hit with three points at this statement. On one point she couldn't really complain, it was his TARDIS so his rules. Also he was right an inexperienced companion was a liability, but hell she'd only been his companion for a few days, wasn't she just as much a liability? And third point, if he saw them as married then it would be their decision, not just his, because then it would be their TARDIS. All of this raced about in her head making once more a mess of insecurities and uncertainties, and scared confusion. The best argument that she could get out of herself was,

"We'd be dead without him." Said Rose matter-of-factly. The Doctor declared that it was his final decision. If he had been John then she would have argued more and tried to reach a compromise but this was the Doctor and uncertainties in her marriage and relationship with the Doctor made her step down from this battle. Rose expressed her apologies to Mickey which he was once again gracious about. She then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The Doctor felt his hair on the back of his neck stand up a bit from watching the act between the two friends, but controlled himself. Jealousy did not suit Time Lords the Doctor thought in his large mind and then started to head for the TARDIS so he wouldn't have to look. Mickey cleared his throat and as bravely as he could wished Rose good luck on her journey. Rose smiled one last time at the man and happily marched towards the TARDIS ready for the next adventure.

Jackie stepped in front of the Doctor and Rose looking scared, hurt, and vulnerable but at the same time angry and defensive. She stared up into the eyes of the man who, human or alien, had turned her life upside down. His eyes were cold and un-reading which she would have to admit disturbed her a bit. The fact that her daughter seemed to have some level of control if not intimacy with such a creature boggled her mind. She wondered if the unreadable eyes were a defense of the Doctor's. She just wanted to know if she could trust her daughter to this alien because so far she was not convinced and the Doctor did nothing really to help aid in his case. Anyway the Doctor's cold stare tactics were counterproductive since she wanted to see some form of assurance from him that Rose would be safe. Exasperated by the whole tiring situation Jackie piped up,

"You still can't promise me. What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?" Rose decided that this was as good a time as any to save the Doctor from scrutiny as well as from a lengthy explanation. Her mother needed a better understanding of time travel. With a smile Rose explained,

"Mum, you're forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe, and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?" Rose repeatedly reassured her mother of this point as she hugged her mother and then Mickey, wishing them goodbye while she was gone. Rose waved and then followed the Doctor into the TARDIS for their next exciting adventure together with hopefully some adventuring into talking more about their marriage too. The TARDIS dematerialized and Jackie and Mickey began waiting longer than 10 seconds for Rose's return.

It was a nice unusually warm day on campus, and unusually warm weather always made one sorry that they were working indoors. Though it wasn't too bad for the blond shop girl, she could at least see the outside world. She was assigned register like she always was earlier in the day and the registers were up front by the large glass windows and very near the entrance of the University Shop. It was quiet though it could get a bit boring when it was slow. The Young woman decided to busy herself with some things beside the counter while she waited for her next customer.

**0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000**

"Hello, Rose." Smiled the college professor when he stepped up to the counter.

"Hello John, err…Professor Smith…Doctor Smith. I'm sorry I don't know what to call you on campus." Smiled Rose nervously behind the counter. John chuckled at Rose's name slip up, but took pity on her.

"On campus or off, John is fine. After all we're both Uni Employees, figure that makes us co-workers, then. So If I can keep calling you Rose you can call me John." Grinned John. Rose blushed a bit at the idea of being coworkers.

"Coworkers, yeah. 'Cept I think I'm not in the same league as you as far as importance and prestige goes." Laughed the young woman as she rang up his usual dry erase markers and banana from the fresh fruit basket. Fruit was always kept at the register as impulse buys for hungry customers looking for a quick snack before class. Or in this case conveniently as an excuse to help John to stop by every day too.

"I don't see a difference, you're brilliant. Besides, the students on this campus need both of us to graduate. If I don't get my dry erasers then they don't get lessons and hence no grade. And if they don't get their supplies and books from you I count them as unprepared in the labs." Explained John matter-of-factly. He was a very funny man, thought Rose so it was a wonder that he was usually so shy outside the classroom. Rose reasoned that we all are different people when given an audience to stand in front of.

"Speaking of classes aren't you usually running late. I think this is the longest conversation we've had at my register to date. You're early today." Pointed out Rose. John's ears began to tint pink a bit but he recovered.

"Just managed to wake up on time today, that's all. I just felt very motivated to get my day started today." Retorted John.

"Also I've always wanted to ask, why do you need so many dry eraser markers? You're in here at least twice a week buying them? Can't you hold on to them?" Asked Rose. John looked around conspiratorially and motioned for Rose to lean in closer. Rose complied and John whispered,

"Personally I think my students swipe them from me so that I always come in late to class. So won't they be surprised today that I come in on time and with a pop quiz." Rose giggled and whispered back,

"Not a very pleasant surprise and I always thought pop quizzes were evil." John gave her a lop-sided grin and said,

"Got to keep all those trust fund babies in my class on their toes somehow." They both laughed again but their little world was interrupted by an impatient man who had been standing behind John for about 5 minutes now, waiting for his turn to buy art supplies for class. John was a bit annoyed but understood that he was holding up the line. He apologized for distracting the cashier, he would have Rose taking none of the blame and bid Rose goodbye. He would either have to lose dry erase makers intentionally now or find some other excuse to spend a fortune at her register.

However, it turned out that John didn't even have to work that hard for excuses to see Rose. As long as there were bananas at her register he'd have an excuse to drop by every day.

"You must really love bananas, John. You have them every day." Smiled Rose, John smiled and thanked the powers that be for that fruit basket that always had bananas allowing him to speak to Rose every day.

"I've had them though, a bit rubbish the fruit on campus. You'd probably should just buy them at the store and bring them instead. Not that I'm telling you where to shop. I just know this fruit stand just a few blocks off campus and it's much better quality and you come to me every morning so I thought I might give you some advice, since we're so familiar now." Declared Rose shyly.

"I guess..." Stuttered John, he was actually a bit troubled by the remark. He knew Rose was just trying to be helpful, but in the back of his head where all his insecurities lived he wondered if that was also her trying to tell him nicely to stop bugging her every day. Sure he saved her life but that didn't mean that gave him the privilege to hang around her like a fruit fly on a banana. At that moment, it dawned on him, 'What if he wasn't coming off as just a friendly acquaintance, but as trying to pursue Rose?' Was that what he was doing? Was he being a dirty old man chasing after a pretty young thing? John was horrified, he realized that he was attracted to Rose. How could he do this to Rose, he was an ugly old git and he was going out of his way for two weeks now to see her. He didn't even realize what he was doing until now. Suddenly he wanted to run away ashamed, he was so distracted that he almost didn't catch what Rose had said to him as he was heading out the door. Not wanting to be rude to a lady, or any more boorish than he already was just by being around her, he turned around and asked her to repeat what she said because he didn't hear. Rose's face pinked a little to have to now say this when he was half way across the store, though fortunately the store had just opened and most of the customers were still in the back gathering what they needed.

"I said that since we're so familiar now, I was wondering if you had time today, my shift ends at 3 and if you wanted I could show you the fruit stand, I mean. If you are too busy I understand, I was going to head their anyway on the way home…." Rambled Rose to a stunned John. Rose mistook the look on his face for outrage. 'Oh why am I so stupid?' Rose asked herself. 'He's a well-to-do university professor not a wage slave like me, of course he had better things to do then spend his free time with chavs. Probably thinks I'm looking for a hand out or a gold digger.' Rose cringed. It was funny both sides were sure that the other couldn't possibly be interested, yet Rose had asked for his company after work and John was now saying,

"I'd love to go out with you….err umm to the store, I mean. There is always some secret place I've never been to around the university, I find." Both parties finally exhaled, Rose understood that she had essentially asked him out, not a date, but an outing which was a step down from date and John realized that Rose actually wanted to spend time with him. Both thought that they were out of their league with the other but a magnetism that both could not explain was drawing them to each other regardless of the condition of their vessels existed in, their souls craved to be near each other. So a little more excited than she probably wanted to sound she said,

"Great, so you are free after 3 then?" John thought and replied,

"I'm done for the day at 3:30 so if you like I could swing by and pick you up at the founder statue at 3:45."

"Sure I'll see you then." Smiled Rose sounding a bit short on breath.

"Fantastic!" Grinned John and he waved Rose good bye and went off to his classes. This was going to be the longest two classes ever before he could see Rose again, but it would be worth the wait.

Rose smiled as she watched the teacher all but skip off to class. He had a funny way of walking after he left her shop like no one she'd ever seen. It was even funnier than when Mickey… That's when Rose remembered an important fact. She had a boy friend and she had now planned an outing with another man. 'Oh no, what if he thinks it's a date?' Asked Rose of herself in a panic. Rose's job was a good distance from her flat on the Powell Estate where she lived with her mother. As a result she still had a boyfriend but she only really saw him on the weekends now. She would usually come home too late and too tired and on the rare days when she did get off early, like today. She would spend time with Mickey, and he looked very forward to it. But Rose had already made an obligation to escort John to this shop. She would just have to call Mickey and tell him that she agreed to spend some time with a friend after work. He would be disappointed but he knew that she had her own life and making friends was important too. Rose would never mislead or lie to him and as long as she was truthful with Mickey, she reasoned that there was nothing wrong with what she was doing. She'd just call Mickey at her lunch break and tell him what she had planned for the day. Having reasoned away her worries, Rose smiled to herself and began to also impatiently count the minutes until she would see John again.

It had been three weeks since John and Rose went on their quest for banana shops. In that time Rose and he had started to become sort of constant companions. They would meet for lunch and steal a few minutes to chat whenever they could during the day. Now it was night, very late at night and John was walking down the street the 2 blocks and a half to his house. He was yawing a lot it had been a long day. John normally would drive his car 'Bessie,' to the university when he knew that he was going to be spending a long day on campus but today had been a surprise long day and now here he was walking home at 1030 at night. It wasn't a dangerous neighborhood at all but you never know late at night. Once or twice he heard of students getting there wallet stolen from them because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He turned the corner on the street opposite of campus and there sitting by herself all alone on the bus bench was none other than Rose Tyler.

"Rose, what are you doing here?" asked John concerned that such a lovely lady was sitting alone at a bus stop this late at night. Oh, how he loved saying her name. It was a treat to be sure whenever he got to see her, but he'd rather her safe at home than out here for him in his good luck to come across. Rose looked up and with a sigh of relief she realized that it was John. Rose had not forgotten the last time she was caught out at night alone. And to be honest it was a bit unnerving to be outside at night by herself so soon after, but there was no helping it tonight. And if anything her bad timing had at least scored her some pleasant company it seemed.

"Oh, John. Hello. I'm afraid I've missed the last bus home and well, I guess I'm waiting for the next one to come around oh 430 am. We closed late and I had to do stock, so I missed my usual bus." Laughed Rose. Well, that explained why she was out here at this hour, thought John. He then took in the night air and questioned,

"Bad luck, still it could be risky being out her all alone. Someone as friendly as me might not be the next person to turn that corner. Couldn't you call a cab or your boyfriend to pick you up?" The last part he had sort of trailed off on. He could have easily just said 'someone to pick you up,' but a part of him really wanted to know who she was dating if anyone. Someone as lovely as Rose most likely had dozens of young and handsome men tripping over each other to date her. And a secret part in the back of his head, longed to be ten years younger so that he might stand a chance with her. But that would never happen, he was an ugly old man who was forever doomed to be in one-sided relationships. He either liked someone who didn't like him or vice versa. He just wanted to stop torturing himself early and establish clearly that he had no hope with someone as fantastic as Rose. Rose had to laugh at how pathetic her situation would sound to an educated and successful man like John. Still she had to say something, she'd only look dumber and chavier if she sat there and said nothing.

"Cab fare to my home would be too expensive and I have a 'friend' with a car but his is in the very shop he works at actually. It will be ready tomorrow he was saying. My Mum doesn't have a car either, but she's used to me staying out late after work with friends. I called her before so she knows I'm fine. But yeah, due to circumstances, no ride. And I don't want my 'friend' to worry, so I didn't call em. I know it sounds dumb but there is no helping it tonight." Explained Rose, she also couldn't help but noticed that when asked if she had a boyfriend, she had been obviously vague about it when it was John asking. What was up with that? She'd worry about it later, John was speaking again. He didn't like the 'circumstances' at all and probably in a voice he thought a bit too eager he declared,

"I could call you a cab. I'll sleep better knowing that you aren't spending the night on the street waiting for a bus to arrive." Rose was flattered, very flattered that John cared so much, but it really was expensive and she couldn't take advantage of a friend like that. So knowing it would not please John's ears she replied,

"I'll be fine, John. It's well lit here, not a dark alley." After Rose had said this, John made his way to the other end of the bench and sat down with Rose. He was not going to leave her alone.

"Nope, Rose. If you are out here all night so will I... Of course if you ... if you want I could give you a ride in my car." Stated John as his mouth traitorously yawned and Rose looked worried. She could tell that the man was very tired from the long day at work. She was deeply touched by the offer, it went above and beyond the call of a casual friendship. And secretly in the back of her mind, a part that didn't even realize it yet, she was wondering if he was motivated by more than just a wanting to be good friends. She wasn't making this easy for anyone by flat out refusing to take advantage of his generous offer but she was worried for his safety as much as he was for hers, so she explained,

"It's a 45 minute drive to my flat. I don't want to be dropped off and find out you fell asleep at the wheel when I come back to work the next day." John sighed exasperated.

"Well then I don't know what to do, Rose. I need sleep, you need to be not left out here alone. My place is close. Why don't you just stay at my place for the night, then?" asked John through sleepier eyes and not really thinking about what he was saying. His brain was on auto pilot and was just looking for the most easiest and obvious way to solve both their problems. Rose wasn't trying to be difficult she just didn't want to be a burden. And she had to make sure that she heard right. Granted they were technically coworkers and they did hang out a lot together on campus, but did he really just offer his home to a near stranger. You could have lunch with a coworker everyday and never really know them or trust them after all.

"You want me to stay at your place?" Asked Rose in disbelief. For a moment John thought that he might have crossed the line of professional relationship, but now that he had offered he might as well go the full way. If he caved now then he would end up sleeping on a bus bench until four in the morning and worse he would regret having taken back the offer for probably the rest of his life.

"If you want to, you don't have to if you're uncomfortable with the idea. I can stay out here and keep you company as best as a tired man can. I just want you safe. But if you don't mind then I have a guest bed and bath so you could freshen up in the morning too. You can just pretend that I'm running a bed and breakfast if you want." Rose thought it a bit comical how John was trying so hard to keep his foot out of his mouth. He probably thought that she was thinking that he was an old pervert or something for making such a kind offer to a younger woman and Rose didn't think that at all. John was not a weirdo or creepy and she knew that, he was a man that she knew she could trust would never harm her. The idea of staying at his home for a night was not threatening at all. And it was very sweet of him, a lot sweeter than most men were to her actually. She hadn't meant to make him think that she was questioning his motives she just couldn't believe it was being offered at all. Still she had to tease him a little,

"You're offering me breakfast too?" John's ears and face turned red and Rose giggled. Jon then very sheepishly said,

"If you'd like, it is always more fun to cook when you have company. And I make a good bacon and egg banana biscuit sandwich."

"Wow, a gentleman knight who can cook, I could get used to that." Smiled Rose to the flustered man. Gentleman? If Rose wanted a gentleman then he was going to deliver. And in mostly serious but with enough of jest to it he bowed.

"Lady Rose Tyler, please do me the honor of using my home's spare room as your lodging for the rest of this fine eve." Implored the Doctor in the most civil and gracious manner he could muster. Rose laughed at his formality and with a curtsy very politely replied,

"Kind sir, I gladly accept your generous offer." John put out his arm for Rose and with a giggle she looped her arm in his. The two then made their way arm in arm the remaining distance to John's house.

Rose was floored by how nice John's home was. It was dark out but the blue lamppost nearby provided enough light for her to see the elegant beauty of the Victorian style home. It seemed almost untouched by time on the outside. The only thing odd about it was the blue paneled door, still she wasn't going to complain about it. All she needed was a bed after all. John opened the door and with masked excitement he let Rose walk in ahead of him. Sometimes he could be a bit messy if it was a busy time of the year but thankfully the place was very clean. He suddenly was not feeling as tired as he was and was putting that energy to good use by getting Rose settled in for the night. He did a quick tour of the house showing off the small library and sitting room, the kitchen, laundry room, the spare bath and the room she would be staying in. Rose noticed that his own room was not on the tour, but she reasoned that he didn't want to scare her. John made a quick pot of tea for Rose to warm her up after being outside and as they sat in his sitting room across the way from each other. John picked up his cup of tea feeling now brave enough to ask,

"Do you like the room, will it do?" Rose's thoughts went to the delightful four poster bed in cozy oaken room. It was almost a ridiculous question, of course she liked it. The bed was even already made, he was obviously a good house keeper or had a house keeper. She was delighted with the room.

"Like it? I love it, I'll be very comfortable there, I just wish I brought some jimjams." Smiled Rose, she then realized that she might have said something rude or expecting. And blushed from her cheek.

"Well if you don't think it too weird then I can lend you something to sleep in. You'd have to roll the legs and arms up a bit but it would fit." Announced John, who was now trying to hide his blush behind his cup and failing at any form of being casual. Rose decided that he'd already offered her this much what was one more thing at this point if it meant the two would get sleep faster.

"If you don't mind, John. I'd like to borrow something to sleep in, jeans aren't that comfortable for sleeping." Said Rose respectfully.

"Agreed." Answered John who then got up and went straight for his wardrobe. This was a very big decision to make, what to give Rose to wear. He got to dress her of all things! But he didn't want her to feel ill at ease so he pulled out an old pair of striped pajamas and brought them down for her. Surely these were harmless and innocent enough.

Rose seemed to approve of John's offered bed apparel and agreed that they were too big and would need some rolling up. Rose would have to go to work wearing the same clothes tomorrow but she'd only worn her outfit a day and most didn't notice when you wore the same sweat Jacket and jeans two days in a row. It wouldn't be too gross. After finishing her tea Rose made full use of the guest bathroom and shower. Fortunately the shampoo in the bath was a neutral enough scent. She wouldn't have anyone the next day asking her why she was wearing the same clothing and smelling like a man. But even if they did she'd just tell them to sod off. Rose then climbed into the guest bed and had one of the most relaxing sleeps ever when in a strange place for the first time. Except the strange place didn't feel strange, she almost felt like she belonged, maybe that was what made the place strange.

John had slept very well in his nice big bed, and he had no unpleasant or scary dream to write in his dream journal for once. He had actually had a nice dream about playing with a tin dog and eating jelly babies. It was amazing how relaxed one could be when they knew that their friend was safe from harm. He worried about Rose Tyler a lot actually, but for one night he knew exactly where she was and that she was safe. He had woken up around 5:30 am which was early for him. Usually he had to pull himself out of bed. This time it was like waking up on Christmas day when you were a child. The second your waking brain processed what was waiting for you that day you shot out of bed. He had to hurry up and get ready he had breakfast to make. John pulled on some draw string trousers and put on a green jumper. He preened in the mirror for about ten minutes and then shaved, he looked perfect. Well perfect as an ugly old git could. Not that it was important, it just made a person feel confident to look good in the morning. Rose had said that she started work at 9 today so she probably would be up soon.

John had indeed made good on his promise of banana biscuits, eggs and bacon. But he had finished cooking and there was no Rose yet. Laughing that he must have been too early making breakfast, he covered up all the food and set the table. He waited and still no Rose.

What was John to do? He decided to default to his usual morning routine. The kitchen was sort of a side room that led out into another room that John typically used as a breakfast nook and a bit more modern sitting area then his study. This room had a television and a modern sofa. The study was more for atmosphere and to be honest he was trying to impress Rose last night with the elegance of that room. In the middle of the modern sitting area was something that pretty much always stood there, his ironing board and his iron. John had many things he was particular about and his appearance was one of them. He liked to look clean shaven and he loved a wrinkle free shirt. He ironed the shirt, trousers and jacket he was going to wear to work every day and decided now was as good a time as any to get it out of the way. John was an expert at ironing from constant practice and after ten minutes found that his suit for the day was done. He then noticed the sitting room on the other side of the house. The arm chair that Rose had used the night before was visible through the open door and across the small hallway. On it was Rose's zip up sweat jacket. It was warm in his house last night. She must have taken it off and forgotten about it. He went to gather it up for her, he didn't want her to accidently leave it behind. He picked up the discarded pink sweat Jacket with a 'P' on the front and the text 'Punky Fish' on the back. He'd never understand modern fashion designers, but at least the jacket felt like it was functional and would keep you warm. Holding the jacket he couldn't help but notice that although still clean it was very wrinkled. The OCD in him rose up and he could not stand to see the wrinkles on it. He looked at the garment and back at his iron, surely Rose wouldn't object to him running an iron over it. He double checked the tag for washing instructions and it was safe to iron. He figured that he could have it nicely ironed and folded by the time Rose made her much anticipated appearance. He began his ironing and was deeply concentrating on his work when half way through he was startled by a female voice over his shoulder.

"Whatcha doing?" asked Rose, her tone as well as how she had silently made her way into the room clearly hinting that she had meant to surprise him. John looked as if he had his hand caught in the cookie jar for a moment but then recovered and in mock annoyance declared,

"Oi, Rose have mercy on a man's heart. You could have given me a heart attack." Rose snickered a bit and retorted,

"Yeah I guess mouth to mouth resuscitation would be a bad way to start the day off." John suddenly felt that having a heart attack wouldn't be so bad if it meant that she would resuscitate him, but quickly threw that idea away and presented the jacket once he was done.

"Was ironing my shirt and suit and I guess I got a bit carried away, here, no wrinkles. Oh God, I hope you don't think that ironing your jacket for you is weird." He blurted out fast. John also noticed that much to his disappointment Rose was fully dressed and no longer in his pajamas, he would have loved to have gotten to see her wearing his clothes rather than just fantasizing about it. Oh, what was wrong with him? Why was he thinking about that now when he had been caught ironing Rose's clothing? Much to his relief Rose assured him that she thought that it was very sweet of him and was appreciating the five-star treatment that 'John Smith's bed and breakfast' offered. Remembering that he had made breakfast, John quickly directed Rose to the breakfast table and pulling out the chair for her sat her down. He then ran back to the kitchen to get the food he had cooked it was now 7:35 in the morning and he hoped that the food was still hot. It was and the two had a very nice breakfast, but the conversation went from comfortable joking and chatting to a few awkward moments when they realized that no one was talking but staring at each other like they thought the other was the most fascinating creature on the planet. They only stopped when John's Cuckoo clock on the wall sounded off to remind the two that it was now 8:30 and Rose had a half hour to get to work.

The door to John's house opened up and Rose and John emerged from it. John didn't need to be at work until ten and he was still in his lazy about the house clothing, but Rose was all ready for work with the most finely ironed sweat jacket around. Rose brought the still warm jacket up to her nose and sniffed in the scent that it had adapted after being in John's house and from ironing. Apparently John liked to iron with some kind of scented water. She liked it a lot and she hoped that the aroma would persist for a while. Maybe she would even ask him for tips and secrets because she was fast seeing the plus side to ironing your clothes. It was too bad she couldn't get her jeans ironed too, she thought, wishing that she had not gotten dressed so fast that morning just so that her jeans would have a nice scent too. John had not realized it, as he was helpfully ironing, and it certainly didn't come to Rose's mind, but John had essentially scent marked Rose and she wasn't protesting it. Stretching her arms over her head Rose declared to the morning air,

"Oh this is great, I'm so close to campus today. I usually have to get up round 6 to be on time for work."

"You were quite the sleepy head today weren't you? If you give me a minute to bring around the car I could drop you off." Said John shyly hoping that he didn't sound too desperate to continue being in her company. Rose smiled but shook her head.

"No thanks, I could do with the walk after that meal. You've been so nice to me already. I'd hate to impose anymore on you." Said Rose kindly to a disappointed John.

"Oh okay. I understand. But I want you to know that I don't see it as imposing. It was a pleasure actually. I so rarely have guests over. Have a nice day at work." Said John. He actually blushed once the last sentence came out of his mouth, his traitorous brain for a moment had imagined saying it to Rose like she was coming back at the end of the day. Like if she was his spouse, now he was really daydreaming. Rose giggled at the color he was turning and started walking away waving. John waved back and turned to go back into his decidedly now very empty feeling house. He didn't want to risk weirding her out by just standing there watching her walk out of sight. Plus part of him was worried that she might be hinting at her wanting him to back off a bit on the courtesies. But he stopped walking through the door when he heard someone rushing up behind him. He turned his head only to get a quick peck on his right cheek. Another smile and rose chuckled,

"I'll see you on campus later today, yeah?" John barely whispered out a response in the affirmative and this time he stood their frozen until Rose was out of sight.

Rose at first thought that the kiss she had given John was just a passing fancy or just being sweet to a friend. However it was a week later when she realized that all she was thinking about was that kiss she had given him and wondering when John was going to pay her a visit next was when she realized that she was infatuated with the man. This wasn't right. She already had a boyfriend and here she was spending time and if she wanted to be scandalous, sort of unofficially dating another man. That's what she was doing wasn't it? The two of them didn't call it that, but it felt a lot like it to Rose. For the first few weeks she had kidded herself that she was just hanging out with a friend. But she was fast realizing that that was not the case and she cared deeply for the funny man. She didn't know if John felt the same or if anything would come out of it but she had to be honest with her current boyfriend so that he wouldn't get hurt. She had finally come to this conclusion when Mickey had kissed her and guiltily she had wanted it to be John. And doing something like that to Mickey even though he didn't realize it was not right at all.

The next day had been her day off and she hated days off now because it meant no seeing John. Rose made up her mind and went to Mickey. Rose was completely honest with Mickey. Rose explained that she was confused about her romantic emotions at the moment and that she cared too much for Mickey to cheat, two-time or deceive him. Until she had he emotions sorted, she would have to break up with Mickey or have him except that they were not going steady anymore. Rose could tell that Mickey was devastated. He had not seen this coming at all, maybe that was because of the distances they worked from each other, and now only saw each other when their days off matched. At first he was very angry especially when she told him about the innocent night she had stayed over a friend's house and that friend was John. In a weak moment he had even wanted to know if they had slept together and was that why she was dumping him. Rose was a bit hurt by the accusation but she knew that it was understandable. She told him that no they had not slept together and she assured him that she had stayed in the guest room, and she had not cheated on him. People watched enough television about stuff like this that you almost had to expect that every break up would be a big dramatic affair. And sometimes they weren't , she didn't use the statement out loud but sometimes people just want to see other people.

"We haven't done anything, Mickey. I just think that I might love him. And I want to see if I can make it work. But I don't want to two-time on you and I don't want to betray your trust so I'm coming to you and being up front about it. I'm happy with you Mickey, don't think it's that. I just think that I'm happier when I'm with John. I don't want to use this old saying but, really, it's not you, it's me." Mickey didn't know what to say, he wanted to be the stereotypical wronged man and shout and swear but he knew he couldn't and told her as much. He loved Rose too much and she had been straight forward with him. He hadn't found them snogging someplace or the clichéd 'find them in bed together' scenario. She had respected him enough to come to him and tell him specifically what was up. And if she respected him that much then he had to do the same. And what else could he do? He didn't own her, nor was he trying to. So with a heavy heart he had wished her good luck and offered his friendship and support if she needed it. Though Mickey did express his concerns with the age gap and men John's age. Rose now with a clear conscience then began to pursue John. It might not work, he might not even see her that way. Maybe she was too young for him, but she had to try. Even if she ended up embarrassing herself, she'd rather regret something she did then something she didn't.

"Hello, John." Sang Rose as she came into his office in the physics building the next day around noon.

"Hello, Rose." Smiled John back. It was a rather pleasant surprise to see Rose in his office on a Monday, a mind as bright as his had easily memorized the days she worked. Did she come to pay him a visit on her day off, he was really flattered by the gesture if that was the case. Rose had come by a few times before to his office to meet up for an outing so it wasn't strange to see her in his office, but it was indeed strange to see her make the trip on an off day. Still he might be getting too hopeful so he gestured for her to sit down on the sofa across from his desk and warmly asked,

"Did they change your schedule for this week?" Rose sat down and suddenly John noticed that she became a bit diminished or maybe skittish was the word. Concerned he leaned forward in his chair. Rose was looking at her hands and every so often would dart her eyes up to his before looking back at her hands again. He also noticed that Rose was a bit more smartly dressed than her usual casual jeans and a hoodie that she wore for work. She was wearing off black slacks, that hugged her form nicely, and a very nice close fitting blue dress shirt under her leather looking snug Jacket for the colder months. Slung over her shoulder was a medium sized hand bag. And rather than tied back, her blond hair was loose and pin straight with a slight curve toward the ends of her lovely, just below shoulder length, hair. She looked like a golden goddess and John felt his pulse quicken the longer he observed her features. She actually looked like she was planning to go someplace nice after her visit. That answered his question for him, she most likely was not heading to work today. His heart sunk a little, maybe she was just in the area and thought she'd stop by before her date with some lucky young and handsome thing. He didn't know why it upset him, of course she was going to go on dates. She was 20, young and beautiful. She wouldn't stay on the market long, but if she was off for such a nice outing then why did she look so not happy or scared? Or maybe someone had finally noticed how fantastic she was and she had got a new job that required her to dress that way and she was now here to say her goodbyes as she brilliantly moved on to the next chapter in her life as she deserved. He would be sad to see her go but he only wanted the best for her. He was taken out of his spiraling thoughts when he heard Rose clear her voice.

"Well, actually John, I do have the day off. I came to see you." Said Rose in a quieter than normal voice. John was about to say something nice about her making the effort to visit when Rose started talking again.

"Specifically, I came to ask you out on a date." She stated now looking him in the eyes trying to read his response to what she had just said.

"What?" asked John not sure if he had heard right. Rose teetered on pulling back and saving herself from possible embarrassment but faint of heart never won fair ladies or in this case, gentlemen.

"I like you John. Would you go on a date with me?" Declared Rose very clearly now and John leaned back in his chair. A painfully slow three seconds went by in reality before John said something but in his head it was even longer and he could see Rose's confidence and offer fading away. He had to be dreaming, there was no way that Rose, the woman he had been crushing on, okay outright longing for and felt physical pain when separated from, was asking him out on a date. But she said it quite clearly there was no misinterpreting her statement. But she was so young, what would people say? Then he realized that he was over thinking like usual, it was just one date. A date didn't have to be a socially awkward thing and he was finding more and more that he didn't think he'd care what people would think. He liked someone and they liked him back. Incredible. Fantastic. Rose had waited those three seconds in agony too and was eyeing the door about ready to run from the room and find a place to curl up and die from the embarrassment when John very sweetly, shyly and quietly answered,

"Yes." Rose's head shot up and looked back at John.

"Really?" questioned Rose.

"Really." Replied John smiling and not being able to contain his joy.

"You'll go on a date with me, a real proper official date? Like dinner and a movie?" She asked now wanting to clarify that the terms and conditions of dating where the same in his book.

"If we can swap out the movie for a trip to the planetarium, yeah." Beamed John. Rose indicated with a comical hand shake that it was a deal and she let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought you would say no." she confessed, to which John let out a sigh as well and humbly replied,

"I thought you'd never ask." Rose was floored that he actually wanted to be asked and John admitted that he had felt feelings for Rose but he was sure that him being rather older and ugly were two strikes against him. Rose agreed that he was older but age was just a number to her and as for ugly.

"Well if I thought you were ugly, then I wouldn't be asking you out, yeah?" John had to guess not and a date would be a good way to actually see if they had any chemistry outside of campus life. Now of course the next logical part of a date came up was logistics.

"So when can I pick you up?" Smiled Rose now leaning forward emboldened by not being rejected.

"Well I have papers to grade and I'm already done lecturing for the day. I have office hours until 4 so anytime after that is fine." Said John as he rested his finger on his chin to ponder.

"Great, how does 4:01 sound?" Grinned Rose, John was a bit taken back by her eagerness to start the date. But what was she going to do for the 4 hours until he was off for the day?

"Okay, but what are you going to do in the meantime?" he asked. Rose blushed a bit but in a voice trying to breathe confidence she said,

"Well I thought that until then I might quietly sit on this sofa and read this book I got in my bag until then." John was about to say something about maybe his students when they came by would feel uncomfortable with someone else in the room, but then he realized what stupid idea he was thinking. If he said that then basically he was asking Rose to leave his office for four hours and that would not due. Sod his students, if they were uncomfortable. John would have Rose Tyler keeping him company for 4 straight hours before their official first date. She could also she how he worked with his students which she never got to see before.

"I hope it's a good read because you'll be bored otherwise." He laughed as he began to grade papers fasters. Rose just crossed her legs and leaned back in the worn but comfy sofa.

"If I get bored the views not so bad." She smiled looking at John. John of course thought that she meant the view out his office window and sweetly smiled at her. He usually preferred to power through his work and either a student or the clock tower on campus would alert him to the passage of time. Though somewhere he seemed to remember hearing that it was a good idea for your eyes to look away from your work every hour for about 15 minutes and with Rose sitting in the same room as him, he was starting to see the appeal. Four hours and three bemused students later, John was throwing on his coat and looping his arm for Rose. Rose gladly accepted his arm and with a quick peck on the cheek they were off for their lovely evening.

**0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000**

The Doctor woke up from his catnap as it were on the couch in the seemingly endless library on the TARDIS. He didn't sleep too often but it did happen from time to time. As his mind came back to the waking world he looked across the room to the pool and stared at the water before bringing his attention back to the book in his lap. He must have been reading when he nodded off. He guessed that navigating through a plasma storm had taken more out of him today than he thought. He usually didn't like sleep much, it always brought nightmares. Which was why he was surprised by the dreams he had, surprised but not upset over them. They had actually been rather pleasant. But why was he dreaming about his time as John? Maybe he still had some sorting out in his brain after the transformation back to a Time Lord. He'd dreamt of being the Doctor as a human so why not dream about when he was human as a Time Lord? That made enough sense for now, but still it had been such a real and vivid dream even for a Time Lord, if he didn't know any better he would have sworn that he had gone back in time and had experienced those times all over again. Stranger still was that usually his dreams were always from his perspective, but he had not only seen and heard from Rose's perspective it was almost like he was watching a television drama too. He wondered if the thoughts and emotions his brain had thought up were anywhere close to how Rose had actually thought, reacted and felt. If it was then he had a very impressive brain and it was the most intimate experience he had had with another being since the last time he used his telepathy abilities with another Time Lord. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn those had been Rose's thoughts. Well strange or not his time sense was kicking in and it was about around the time Rose's sleep cycle would end, so best get up and make some tea.

Inside the kitchen the Doctor sat at the table waiting for Rose to walk through the door, and also wondering in what state of dress she would be in. Not that he cared, it was just fun to make a guess as to how serious Rose was about waking up in the morning. Not that he would admit it but much to his disappointment Rose was fully dressed for the day in jeans and a comfortable sweat Jacket, the same one as in his dream in fact. What a coincidence, he thought as he stared at her. It was then that the Doctor realized that Rose was also looking a bit oddly at him too. Like she was waiting for him to say or do something. Or like she wanted to say or ask something but didn't know how to go about it. They were both scrutinizing each other like the other had something the other wasn't telling and how to bring it up. The Doctor decided that it was a lost cause, it was a stupid and random topic to bring up and Rose thought that he was crazy enough. Besides he never wanted her to know that he slept if she could help it. That might bring up more awkward questions involving sleeping arrangements again. Rose now approached the table, still looking at him like he had two heads she sat down at the table and began to grab a biscuit.

"Doctor…" Rose began but stopped herself and at the same time the Doctor said,

"Rose…" They both laughed nervously and began to eat. What Rose had wanted to do was talk about the subject of dreams. She just didn't know how to bring it up without sounding weird. Last night Rose had had a very real and vivid dream about her past with John. The only thing was that when she dreamed she usually always did so from her perspective. This time she not only dreamt from John's perspective but she felt as if she were reading his thoughts too. And at the same time she also felt as if she were watching it like a television show. Stranger still she felt as if the Doctor were right there with her experiencing what she was, it was so odd an occurrence. It was certainly the weirdest dream she ever had and it made her want to talk about it. She had never in her life had any dream like it. When she had woken up she had remembered the sweat jacket that John had ironed for her and call her a sentimental fool, but she knew she had it with her and she decided that she would wear it today. What would the Doctor care what she wore? Domestic things like picking clothing to wear for the day didn't seem that important to him. She doubted that he'd even remembered the significance of the garment anyway. She shyly smiled at the Doctor as he ate another banana and they went the safe route and talked about what they were going to do today. Still it had been a very odd dream, maybe when she ever built up some confidence with the Doctor, she might be able to talk about any subject like she had when the Doctor was John.

**Author's Notes:** Definitely some off scripting now folks, I hope you liked this small sidestep from the story. Also thank you to my fans, especially the ones who made fan art of my story! I liked an idea they used so much that I just had to use that little plot bunny in my story. I like that word plot bunny, I've always wanted to use it in a sentence. Thanks. Again comment and tell me what you think.


	30. Chapter 30 - Dalek

**Complicated **

**By the Plot Thinens**

**Dalek - Chapter 30**

Inside a giant dimly lit concrete structure were cases and cases made of bulletproof glass arranged as they would be seen in some national museum. Inside those cases were many odd, strange and out of place items that looked like they belonged in a scifi movie. But if one were to look more carefully they would find that the most out of place thing in the whole 'room' was a large blue box with the words 'Police Public Call Box' glowing atop the door frame on the blue structure. The box had not been there a minute ago. In fact it had materialized out of nowhere it seemed. To make matters worse two people emerged from the box and were now moving about the carpeted floor. This was now a security breach! The guard on the CCTV sounded the alarm and dispatched a heavily armed team to the room before the intruders could do any harm to the valuable collection within. Unaware that they were about to be very much not alone, Rose began to make curious chitchat with her Time Lord husband, the Doctor, last of the Time Lords.

Rose and the Doctor had been on their way to a new planet that the Doctor thought would impress Rose when they landed in a place that was clearly not their destination if the console monitor was anything to go by. The Doctor scrunched his brows in frustration and began to wonder why he tried to plan any trips since they always seemed to land someplace else. But this wasn't a typical landing someplace else with no warning for many reasons. After the general frustration was over the Time Lord actually found his curiosity peaked. The Doctor wasn't sure what was going on exactly so he wanted to get a look around outside for anything obvious to explain where they now found themselves.

Where ever they were, it too looked warm enough outside. The Doctor had told Rose that the place they were going to visit was warm so she had worn a ripped t-shirt and put up her hair in a fashion she thought would be suitable for a warmer climate. She also would be lying if she said that she had not done her hair and make-up in a way she hoped would excite the Doctor's otherwise unexcitable constitution. She was starting to think she should make a game out of trying to find some look that would impress the Doctor. It at least could be a hobby, the Victorian dress had earned a compliment from the Doctor, of sorts, but for most places they went that form of dress was impractical. The ripped t-shirt she was wearing would have to do and was also a tactic to show off some skin to the Doctor. Maybe it was a bit too much make-up but Rose was getting a bit desperate to hear another compliment about her looks from the Doctor, even if he took it back a moment later with his 'for a human' remark. Rose didn't want to think she was looks obsessed or vain. She just wanted her man to tell her she was pretty, that was reasonable enough. Most spouses like to hear that now and again, yeah? Rose had even taken up the offensive and had gone as far as to compliment the Doctor on his posterior, like she had when he was human. It was a gamble. She had done so this morning, only to have him ask why humans were so fixated on the strangest parts of anatomy. Rose had been disheartened by his comment yet she was sure she had seen him blush first before he had spoken. But now he was too wrapped up in their newest mystery, so she wasn't going to get anymore domestic-like conversations out of him for now. She wished that they could just sit down and set up guidelines as to what was considered acceptable contact, subjects, and yes flirting with the Doctor. Most of their head butting was just due to the fact that he wouldn't tell anything about himself to her. He spoke so much but didn't say a hell of a lot to help her gauge their relationship or where they stood in it. She gave all freely and he held everything back. He could be holding her hand one day and keeping at arm's length the next. But when they did hold hands it was so tender and felt so loving and right that she had to believe that there was more to what he felt for her than what he could show. It was confusing to say the least, she was beginning to think that the Doctor liked keeping her confused.

Rose, wanting some air now that they had landed was the first to exit the TARDIS. She didn't know if she was angry, disappointed, frustrated or sad, maybe a combination of all of them, when she stepped out but she hoped solving a new mystery would be a good distraction. Maybe a chance to impress the Doctor too. Rose started to do what she did best, bounce questions off the Doctor to get the ball rolling closer to the end of the mystery.

"So what is it? What's wrong?" Asked Rose as she looked about the strange room. It was an odd landing place, usually if the TARDIS landed anywhere, it was interesting, but this place looked like it could easily be skipped if they would just get back into the TARDIS. Still the Doctor was curious to have a look around, it was really dark though and one could hardly see anything.

"Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course." Answered the Doctor as he scrutinized over his TARDIS. Rose was also doubly worried about the TARDIS if the Doctor was. The two of them had now been together as the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS for almost a week now and apart from the usual maintenance the TARDIS had traveled without a hitch. Rose decided to relax by asking the easy questions that she knew her husband loved to answer.

"Where are we?" .Asked Rose looking about in the near dark.

"Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground." Answered the Doctor as quickly as if he were telling her what the opposite of left was. Well that was very well and good but when traveling with the Doctor you need a bit more information than that to get your bearings.

"And when are we?" The Blond woman asked smartly. The Doctor smiled, Rose was getting the hang of this time traveling thing. The Doctor answered very matter-of-factly that it was the year 2012 as he tried to get a better look at what appeared to be a display case next to him. Rose stood there a bit surprised, she didn't know why but traveling to a place in the future within her life time seemed so odd, she had skipped a year before and it for some reason felt like cheating at a game. She got to see the world she would soon be living in but younger. That was pretty cool, and she always fancied a trip to the United States, it's just that Utah was not high on her list of states she wanted to visit first. She would have preferred a trip to New York or California, or maybe Florida first.

"God, that's so close. So I should be twenty six." Smiled Rose in amazement and the Doctor smiled in kind to her excited remark. Rose then thought of what she would look like then. What was left of her child-looking features would have matured by then into the adult ones that she would have for the rest of her life. The Doctor didn't age he said so she would have to catch up to looking about his age. It would take years before that, but at 26 they might start looking more like a couple that didn't get stared at as much for the obvious differences in age. Feeling a bit teasing from this revelation Rose breathed out low,

"You know, Doctor, by then I should be done filling out so to speak. Do you think you'll like how I look at 26?" Rose gave the Time Lord a knowing smirk that he would show slight signs of being flustered from her comment. And why shouldn't he be flustered now and again? If he was going to fluster and confuse her and not set up guidelines in their relationship, then she was going to return the favor to him when the chance came up. Tit for tat. If he was flustered however, she didn't see because before his traitorous eyes could give him away, he turned to the wall in search of a light switch he thought that he had seen. The Doctor then flipped the light switch and everything in the room became clear.

"Blimey. It's a great big museum." Declared Rose, 'Why would the TARDIS take them to a museum?' Rose asked herself. Why go to a museum to see old things now when you could see them then when it was current? Then upon getting closer to the cases the blond realized that this was no ordinary museum.

"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. I prefer stamps myself much cheaper hobby especially when you get them when they are first printed." Declared the Doctor as he looked at the cases. Immediately going into 'Rose's personal tour guide' mode in case the contents were not obvious.

"Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship." Explained the Doctor as he walked down the row of cases with Rose while pointing out what item was what. Rose was very much amazed by what she saw, especially the sight of a stuffed Slitheen arm behind glass. It still gave her the shivers even when it wasn't attached to a bloodthirsty alien monster. The Doctor's attention then focused in on the next case ahead. A sliver metal looking head with wires coming out of it was inside the case and the Doctor stared at it in disbelief that he should see such a familiar thing again.

"Oh, look at you." He said to the head. Puzzled rose came up next to the Doctor for a closer look and asked what the curious thing was. Still looking at the head the Doctor replied,

"An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." Rose rolled her eyes if at 900 he was only now thinking that he was getting old, he looked pretty good for 900 to her. Then Rose thought that if this thing was an old enemy that the Doctor knew then maybe that was why they were brought here.

"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose asked wanting to solve the mystery.

"No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help." Answered the Doctor in a distant pondering voice and Rose felt compelled to reach out and hold his hand. At the same time the Doctor felt the urge to touch the display and when he put his hand to the case a loud alarm began to blare. Little did the two know that the soldiers had already been dispatched before the alarm had gone off, how else could they have arrived so quickly? The Doctor and Rose were now finding themselves surrounded and the targets of several heavily armed guards and the two put up their hands in surrender. The guards boxed them in so close that Rose was now flush against the Doctor's back and they were now hopelessly cut off from the TARDIS.

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A, honey." Said Rose to the Doctor nervously with a hint of uneasy humor as the soldiers trained their sights on the two. 'Why don't you say that a little louder, dear?' grumbled the Doctor to himself in his head sarcastically.

The armed guard very quickly ferried the two time travelers from the room and on to an elevator. Everyone seemed to be busy and rushing and shouting. Over the loudspeaker the words, 'Bad Wolf One helicopter descending!' was heard followed by a demand for more reinforcements to secure and check the facility for intruders.

"All this for us? We should be flattered, Rose." Laughed the Doctor about the antsy humans to his technically-still-his-wife. His mood changed to one of worry however as soon as he looked down at Rose who was clutching his arm and looking about. The doctor couldn't help but notice that Rose was holding on rather tight to his arm and he wanted her to feel safe, sure they were captured but he still had the situation under control he thought. Rose, however, was not holding his arm in fear, but like a wolf protecting an injured pack member. If he could have read her thoughts then he would have known what had Rose so on the defensive, besides the fact that she was captured, yet again. She could forget every problem they had and how frustrated she was with her husband when she thought that he was in danger. It all seemed petty by comparison of the risk of losing him to anyone or anything. In actuality at the moment she didn't care to think about herself. She knew that she was of no interest to another human, it was the Doctor's unique biology that she knew made him a valuable target or prize for someone interested in aliens and she would be damned if anyone took her Doctor away from her.

"And this is the last. Paid eight hundred thousand dollars for it." Explained a young man, with a distinctly not American accent, to his employer. The object the young man produced was palm sized and curved and looked very sleek. His employer a balding man named Henry Van Statten scrutinized the odd device as The Doctor, Rose and a woman came to a door. The woman, who had curtly introduced herself to the two time travelers as Diana Goddard appeared to be in a position of power as they entered the very posh and disgustingly rich and distasteful looking office. Van Statten who at the moment seemed unconcerned with his two new 'guest' continued to look at the item and asked the young man,

"What does it do?" Making a studious face and trying to sound knowledgeable and impressive the young man replied,

"Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel." The doctor having spotted the shiny black metallic device recognized it right away. He had to laugh to himself 'Now how did you get all the way out here?' he thought to himself as he watch the two humans ponder over its use. And obviously not holding it right. The Doctor rolled his eyes and felt the immediate need to correct the two dumb apes.

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." Goddard quite forcefully then told the Doctor to 'SHUT UP!' The Doctor however was not intimidated by the loud ape and continued,

"Really, though, that's wrong." Adam took a step back from the desk where Van Statten sat with the device and slightly panicking asked,

"Is it dangerous?" Once again the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"No, it just looks silly." Explained the Doctor. And how silly for humans to think that every scrap of alien tech that happens to be found on earth is either a battery or a weapon. Aliens are people too and people like things besides fuel sources and weapons, they like to have fun, to entertain and create. In this case this device could create something better than any weapon. The Doctor then reached out for the little item only to have every gun in the room trained on him. Still not intimidated the Doctor held out his hand and Van Statten, bemused handed him the mysterious object. Though the Doctor couldn't help but notice the man's obvious power insecurities. This man was all about power. Not only did he have to slowly and with authority hand the device to him, he had to stand up out of his chair too so that he felt in power and didn't have to look up to the Doctor when he surrendered over his property to a supposed expert who knew more than him. Some of these apes in some aspects really haven't evolved much since they came down from the trees.

"You just need to be delicate." explained the Doctor as he gently stroked the artifact and it let off a musical note. 'It's a space harmonica!' thought Rose as she smiled at how clever the Doctor was as he played a few more notes. She wondered if he could actually play a musical instrument well with those hands of his. She'd have to ask later, but he was so good at math that it would seem impossible for him not to be good at music.

"It's a musical instrument." Whispered the balding man in wonder. The Doctor saw the look on the humans' faces now understanding that it was a joyful trinket not a weapon and the Time Lord tenderly smiled,

"And it's a long way from home." Van Statten, wanting to assert his dominance over the situation then nabbed the device from the Doctor's hands and said in a somewhat clipped and rude voice,

"Here, let me." It put off the Doctor a bit but he continued with his educational lesson and instructed Van Statten to not touch the device so harshly. Being too hard with it only produced unpleasant sounds. And went on to explain that precision and the smallest touch were what was needed. A few more tries and Van Statten finally got the hang of the musical instrument.

"Very good. Quite the expert." Grinned the Doctor and Van Statten looked up from the device to stare at the Doctor.

"As are you. Who exactly are you?" Asked the man as he carelessly tossed the device across the room now that it held no more mystery to him. The Doctor was put off by the man's actions and began to dislike him even more. Rose on the other hand felt a little disappointed that such a lovely thing would be cast aside. She would have liked to have kept it at least. She was a bit musical herself once and lord knew that with so much time frustratingly to herself at night now she could do with a hobby.

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" Asked the Doctor looking stern and intimidating, the Doctor could easily out bravado any human male and Van Statten with his stupid looking mustache and goatee was hardly a person to be feared. The Doctor was even almost a good head size taller than the man. In his own territory and not looking to back down, Van Statten approached the Doctor with his nose up in the air so that he might pretend that he was looking down on the Doctor. Breathing confidence fueled by testosterone and an ego the size of Texas, the man declared,

"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake." The Doctor had to admit that he was right on the mark as silly as it sounded. Van Statten was even more intrigued with how they bypassed his security.

"The question is, how did you get in? Fifty three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice. You're quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty." Smirked Van Statten as he gave Rose a quick once over with his eyes, and the Doctor did not like that. He didn't like anyone objectifying or cat-calling Rose. She was too fantastic a person for that sort of treatment. Guards or no guards if this bearded man came anywhere closer to Rose he was going to shove his foot up the guy's something, but his thoughts were interrupted by Rose piping up to defend herself.

"She's going to smack you if you keep calling her 'she.'" Van Statten only seemed amused by the girl's cheek and grinned now that she realized that she was English from her accent.

"She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend." Joked Van Statten back to the young man that was his employee. The Young man looked uneasy at having attention thrown his way, Rose looked irritated at Van Statten's idiocy, and the Doctor looked steamed for the 'girlfriend' remark. The Doctor knew it was not necessary but he couldn't help himself for some reason and he turned his ice blue eyes to the young man as if to say with them, 'She's no girlfriend of yours, pipsqueak.' The young man was intimidated by the Doctor and looked fast to change to a subject more pleasant that might distract the Doctor from the anger he was reading off him. Feeling the need to express himself as knowledgeable to the compound's new 'guest and feeling it would provide the necessary distraction, the young man went on to explain that Mister Henry Van Statten owned the internet. Rose was not impressed and called out the man's remark because no one owned the internet. Van Statten just smiled and said that it was fine for the world to keep thinking that.

"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." Declared the Doctor, his statement a good blow, but Van Statten bounced back and inquired,

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten puffed out his chest and tried to make himself look bigger, the Doctor just chuckled inwardly at the ape. It would take more than that to intimidate a superior Time Lord than posturing.

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am." Announced the Doctor with all the arrogance of a Time Lord male. Van Statten didn't like how the Doctor didn't seem to be aware of Van Statten's superiority, authority and power over the situation, the Doctor and his cute little accomplice. So in a voice meant to rob the Doctor of any wind in his sail, the man crowed,

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" The Doctor ever elusive asked the man to tell him if he thought he knew everything. Van Statten informed the Doctor that his only living specimen was in the cage and so he already knew that that was why the Doctor was here.

"And what's that?" Asked the Doctor looking down on the smaller man, who then stepped closer and clipped back,

"Like you don't know." The Doctor honestly didn't know but if the little man's attitude reflected anything about his treatment of aliens, then the Doctor might be soon staging a prison break. Interested in what poor soul he was going to find in this man's twisted little collection he barked,

"Show me." The Doctor took a powerful step forward and the man did the same until Rose was almost squeezed between the two men.

"You want to see it?" Asked Van Statten. Rose then had enough and pushed the Doctor a bit to the side to give herself some air. Van Statten smelt like bad cologne and she didn't want her nose to be anywhere near the little egotist when she could be breathing in the Doctor's much more pleasing aroma.

"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." Stated Rose nervously to the room. The atmosphere was so thick with tension and testosterone that you could cut it with a fork. Well that was assuming Time Lords had testosterone, otherwise it was all coming off Van Statten and the armed guards. Now that Rose thought about it, she wondered if the Doctor having a different blood chemistry from John was part of why he behaved so different. Blimey, did the Doctor even have blood anymore? She certainly hadn't been able to get any of his blood to boil since her vivid dream, and that little trip down memory lane had been enough of a reminder to encourage her for days to try to rekindle their estranged relationship. With all the pheromones she'd been trying to send the Doctor's way the past few days, it could be the case that they weren't picked up or of any interest to the Doctor and his Time Lord body. Yet another difference and disappointment if this were true. But the Doctor had to have something coming off of him at least, maybe not testosterone, but something really attracted her to him not just on an emotional level that was already there and continued to be after he had changed back from John to the Doctor, but chemically too. Perhaps Time Lords had some kind of pheromone that no Earth woman could resist, 'okay now I'm being a bit silly and dramatic,' thought Rose as continued to try to keep the Doctor a respectable distance away from the guy who had a dozen itchy trigger fingered men pointing guns at her husband.

Both men were trying to outdo each other in a battle of projecting power, superiority and dominance over the other. Without breaking eye contact with the Doctor, Van Statten, driven by the childish urge to outdo and impress shouted,

"Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down." He then pointed to his British intern and snipped,

"You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do." Rose rolled her eyes. That was probably the dumbest statement she had ever heard. This was also probably the dumbest American she had ever met and would probably ever meet too. The young man gestured for Rose to follow him and distressed Rose looked back at the Doctor for reassurance. She didn't want to be separated if the Doctor thought that it was a bad idea or if he was in danger. Much to her relief the Doctor gave her a wordless exasperated look that read, 'Go on go, I'll sort this idiot out.' Rose nodded and stood by the intern ready to go. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as she thought then, still she would rather go with her husband but guns pointed at you usually solved any argument. The Doctor would have to manage on his own for a bit. Rose looked to the intern for the signal to go but he just stood by while Van Statten finished his instructions to the room.

"And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet." The Doctor followed Van Statten but not without making sure to give the young man a death glare warning him not to lay a hand on Rose. He also flashed one more quick look to Rose to assure her. His eyes were soft and calming and instructed her to hang tight and put up with these people until he came back. Rose nodded slightly in agreement and figured that she could tolerate a few irritating people for the sake of gathering information. She thought that if she tried, she might be able to get intel off of this young man that could help the Doctor. With a smile that said 'see you later', Rose was off in another direction with the young man.

The Doctor was led down to a place lovingly called 'the cage' all the while wondering just what these stupid gun-toting humans had done to this poor alien, whoever it was. He was also thinking about ways to help get this, most likely wrongfully, imprisoned alien away and free from said stupid apes. They stopped just outside the heavily reinforced metal door which was the entrance to the 'cage'. Trying to look in control and knowledgeable about his 'pet' Van Statten explained,

"We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside." Van Statten then swiped a key card and opened the rather elaborate lock on the 'cage' door. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the description. Shielding? So maybe it wasn't completely defenseless and at these human's mercy, but just trapped. This alien was becoming more and more interesting. The Doctor asked what the alien was inside of, but was interrupted by the presence of a man off to the side of the 'cage'. He had just taken off the hazard helmet to the odd orange hazard-like outfit he was wearing and gave off a vibe that the Doctor distinctly did not like. Any pleasantries he was showing were surely a formality. The man called Simmons declared to his employer,

"Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting." Somehow the man did not come off as a thoughtful care giver to the Doctor. The Doctor had seen the look in this man's eyes before. The type who loved to inflict pain on others and only needed to be given an opportunity to do so. The Time Lord then was struck by the name they were using in reference to their captive alien.

"Metaltron?" Asked the Doctor, unfamiliar with the name. In fact he didn't think he'd heard of any alien species called that. Had the alien told them that was what he was called, maybe it was their name and the humans were stupid enough to just assume that that was its species name. Van Statten puffed up his chest and smirked,

"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name." Well that answered the Doctor's question, the humans made it up. He should have known that no self respecting alien race would be called the Metaltrons. 'Rassilon, do I miss Rose.' thought the Doctor as he longed for the presence of the only sane human being for probably miles in any direction. The Time Lord was bored with this lot and couldn't wait to be in the company of this alien and have most likely the first intelligent conversation he had all day with a being other than his technically-still-his-wife. Looking at the Doctor's dressed down by comparison clothing, Simmons handed over a pair of heavy gloves roughly to leather clad man.

"Here, you'd better put these on. The last guy that touched it burst into flames." Declared Simmons in a cocky and knowing voice. This man obviously considered himself to be the expert here and thought himself doing the Doctor a favor. The Doctor did care for the glove and stated,

"I won't touch it then." Every person in the room looked at him with a smug all knowing look. Like they were so clever and twice as knowledgeable as the Doctor. He also felt that this lot couldn't wait for him to realize just how smart they all were in comparison to him. And when everyone wanted the Doctor to fail that was when the Doctor was sure he would succeed. They were so like children in how they were behaving, Rose was younger than most of the people in this compound and she was more mature and adult then this gun happy lot were. Why couldn't all humans be as wise beyond their years as his Rose? As if to solidify the Doctor's point Van Statten, raising his eyebrows said in an arrogant voice,

"Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me." Oh he would impress alright, and without fear the Doctor walked through the now open 'cage' door. The room was dark a not very well lit, if they were going to lock the poor alien down here they could at least give him a night light. Very few species actually liked constant darkness that he knew of. The last bit of lighting from the door disappeared and the Doctor heard the clang of the door closing and locking. So he was to be locked in here with the alien now? His time Lord eyes could see a figure on the opposite side of the room and very diplomatically but with concern in his voice announced to the unknown alien,

"Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor." White and blue lights began to flicker toward the back of the room where the alien was. Well now he knew where the alien was for sure thought the Doctor as the lights flickered more. Then in a voice that sounded cold and raspy and stranded from actual use questions,

"Doc Tor?" No sooner did he hear the familiar voice did the pieces all come together. The placement of the lights, the speech pattern, only one species was like that, but that couldn't be.  
"Impossible." Rasped the Doctor in disbelief, there was no way this could be true. Again the creature parroted the Time Lord's name and the Doctor knew the peril he was in. The light in the tiny room turning on was only a formality. In light or darkness The Doctor could tell he was locked in a room with none other than the Time Lords' most deadly enemy, a Dalek! It might have been restrained by heavy chains but even from a distance it was a deadly killing machine. They were the destroyers of whole species, feared by all that knew them and in the past had been the stuff of Time tots' nightmares since the Doctor had made the Time Lords aware of them. The Doctor's mind filled with his own nightmares and horrible images that he hoped would be put away into the back of his head forever when the foul alien began to chant its battle cry that made his blood run cold,

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Doctor had to get away and fast before he had no hope of survival at all.

"Let me out!" The Doctor shrieked in fear as he hammered on the door in sheer terror. He had to get out if he stayed any longer he'd be dead. Dead! Dead!

"Exterminate!" Shouted the Dalek again as it trained its most feared weapon on the terrified Doctor.

**Author's Notes: Oh boy, next chapter we unleash the giant metal Killamajig! I love that word and you so rarely get to use it in a sentence, ha. As always comments are appreciate and encouraging.**


	31. Chapter 31 - Van Statten's Pet

**Complicated **

**By The Plot Thinens**

**Van Statten's Pet - Chapter 31**

"You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" Shouted the chained and obviously battered looking Dalek as it attempted to move its gun arm about but could only managed a few twitches with no results. That was when the Doctor realized that it had no weapon to use, it was broken and he was safe from extermination. It was damaged, the Doctor had seen beat up Daleks in the past be just as deadly as any other one, but this Dalek was hopelessly crippled!

"It's not working." Gasped the Doctor in relief, 'Oh its Christmas, Chanukah, Diwali, every bank holiday, and my birthday all in one!' joyfully sighed the Doctor to himself. His relief then turned to anger at the sight of the damaged creature futilely still trying to kill him and the Time Lords desire to heckle and jeer the hated thing fired up in him. The Doctor laughed at the Dalek and its impotent signature weapon. His laughter bounced all about the tiny little room, 'Had the stupid thing just been bluffing or had it really forgotten that its gun was broken?' Mused the Doctor as he got up into the Dalek's nonexistent face.

"Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?" Jeered the Doctor in a mocking voice. Rarely was he able to come this close to such a creature and have no fear of death. The Dalek startled by the Doctors quick movements tried to move in reverse only to be stopped a few inches by the chains attached to it.

"Keep back!" The Dalek shrieked in its metallic voice, as the Doctor stared into its eyestalk.

"What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing. You might as well rent yourself out as a potted planter." Reveled the Doctor as he circled around the Dalek like some Earth big cat looking for a moment to pounce. Well he had his fun now it was time for the game of twenty questions. The Time Lord had to determine how this Dalek got here. The Doctor asked the Dalek in a not too polite manner,

"What the hell are you here for?" The Doctor's question was most likely filled with double meanings. He had killed all the Daleks and the fact that there was still one left, led to all sorts of questions. Why should one have survived to mock his people and his own sacrifices? Why was it the prize possession in an Earthling egotist's gallery? What was the point of it continuing to exist at all?

"I am waiting for orders." Screeched the pepper pot as its answer. The Doctor inquired into the Dalek's meaning of 'waiting for orders'. To which the Dalek explained that it was a soldier bred to receive orders and nothing more. The Doctor growing ever more angry and disgusted with the thing's presence bellowed,

"Well you're never going to get any. Not ever." The Doctor loved that fact, any pain mentally or otherwise that he could inflict on this creature was therapeutic and satisfying the place in his hearts that wanted revenge for the death of his people.

"I demand orders!" Shouted the Dalek not fully grasping what the Doctor was telling it. The Doctor was now losing his patience with the thing that he thought he'd never have to stomach being near again and spat in its eyestalk,

"They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second." 'Oh, that felt good.' The Doctor thought in grim satisfaction. The Dalek could not believe what the Doctor was saying. How could its entire race be destroyed? They were superior in every way. They could not be wiped out, it was another Time Lord trick.

"You lie!" It screamed at the Doctor. The Doctor did not like being called a liar when he was being dead honest serious and he especially didn't want to hear accusation from a Dalek. It could live in denial for as long as it could but the Doctor would make this monster feel his pain and loss.

"I watched it happen. I made it happen." Shouted the Doctor proudly at the Dalek.

"You destroyed us?" Asked the Dalek in disbelief. Something about the Dalek's question, its inflections, the tone, it made the Doctor remember himself, not the dark man he was unleashing. For a moment he had to fight back a feeling. Whether it was a feeling of relation, sorrow, pity, or momentary insanity, he did not know, but it cooled his anger. The fiery anger was replaced again with the cold brooding angry sadness he carried with him always and was his usual baseline mood. Though what he was feeling now might have been a bit more intense. It certainly was not the usual feelings he felt when he was with Rose. When he was with Rose he was happier but also frustrated. She was so innocent and full of life, but didn't know what he'd been through. She would, with love and caring, try to cheer him up, wondering why he couldn't be cheered up. On so many things she couldn't relate and or understand. The frustration that goes with trying to relate to someone who obviously, through no fault of their own, can't drove a wedge through them. She had seen her world destroyed too, but it was an empty world, not full like his had been when it was destroyed. She could only understand so much and the rest she could not and he was glad that she couldn't understand but at the same time part of him wished that she could just so he would have someone to relate these unaddressed feelings to.

In this Dalek he realized that he had more in common and more to talk about with than any other creature in the universe, and whether that was sad or pathetic, he knew not. But he did not want to admit that they had anything in common. He did not relish in destruction like a Dalek, he did not want to be a murderer, it was thrown upon him. The injustice of War that now he had to live with for the rest of his regrettably long life. And now a morbid thought came to the Time Lord's mind. This Dalek, this hated creature that was not in the know, what if it were instead a Time Lord in its place without knowledge of the conclusion of the Time war? What if they asked the same question of him? What could he possibly say to explain his actions other than,

"I had no choice." Clipped the Doctor as his excuse. The Dalek paused for a moment in reflection and asked,

"And what of the Time Lords?" Unlike the Doctor, who could feel emotion, he knew that the Dalek was not asking such a question out of concern, but tactically wanting to calculate what had happened. Any key information could give a Dalek a chance to get the upper hand. 'Might as well tell it what happened, what's it going to hurt now?,' thought the Doctor as he tried to state, as emotionlessly as possible but failed miserably,

"Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."

"And the coward survived." Declared the Dalek in what sounded like contempt. 'Oh there we go, the conflict starts a new, and with the Dalek in no state to sass me. Thinks it's so much better than me.' Thought the Doctor very very irritated.

"Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left." Spat the Doctor staring at the Dalek's eye stock. The Dalek mulled on this information and lowering its eye stock in what could be taken as despair or melancholy declared,

"I am alone in the universe." The Doctor responded the affirmative, not wanting to deal with the Dalek for much longer.

"So are you. We are the same." The Dalek said logically. And that set off the Doctor, if there was one thing he didn't like it was being compared to in any sense to a Dalek.

"We're not the same! I'm not… No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point." Smiled the Doctor trying to lull the Dalek into a false sense of security if it was even capable of that emotion.

"Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate." Smiled the Doctor with a sinister manic grin that would cause the bravest man to run away. The Doctor then pulled a lever on a nearby console that his brilliant Time Lord brain had already discovered was a device designed to implement 'shock treatment' on a subject. Namely the Dalek. The Dalek then began to scream and lit up with electricity.

"Have pity!" Begged the Dalek in a pathetic voice. 'Now that's rich,' thought the Doctor, 'a Dalek begging for mercy'.

"Why should I? You never did. How many species? How many of my people begged your lot for mercy and received none? How many children?! My own children, did you show any mercy to them?! None. Any pain I give you will never be enough." Shouted the Doctor at the Dalek he was killing. The Dalek desperate to escape death called out to his human captors for help. Van Statten not wanting his prized possession damaged any further immediately sent in a team of armed guards to stop the Doctor as he was ramping up the voltage even higher. The guards grabbed the Doctor, pulled him away from the lever and Simmons turned it off, saving the Dalek from death. Seeing this as an opportunity to finally get through and assert his dominance on the Dalek, Van Statten went up to the creature and demanded,

"I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddamn it, talk to me!" All the while the Doctor was shouting that the Dalek had to be destroyed as he was being over powered by so many guards. Van Statten in all his arrogance took nothing that the Doctor said to heart and merely turned his attentions back to his pet.

"The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek. I am Henry van Statten, now recognize me! Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes." The Doctor heard Van Statten hiss as he was carted away by armed guards.

00000000000000000000000000

Rose carefully climbed over piles of metal garbage that resembled forms of alien technology. A few things here and there looked similar to thinks Rose had noticed in her week of Travel with the Doctor, but for the most part it was just piles of old junk. Adam made his way over to his work terminal and began working at the keyboard.

"I'm Adam, by the way. What's your name?" Rose still looked a bit distrusting but figured giving her name wouldn't hurt. It's not like it was her time, it was in the future and she would look different enough by then most likely. There were probably also a billion people with the same name as hers especially since it was so common. How ironic that she married a man with such a common name that was anything but common.

"I'm Rose Smith." She answered clearly, but left out the middle name, no need to give too much help in identifying herself. It worked better than Rose would have hoped. Adam actually thought that she was having him on. 'Rose Smith, right,' the man mused. He was surprised she hadn't said her name was 'Jane Doe'. He had no problem playing games with a hot babe.

"Anyway Rose, sorry about the mess. Mister Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods." Said Adam, obviously trying to look impressive behind his computer terminal for the only woman he'd seen in months that was not in camos or packing heat. Thinking himself quite clever he then handed Rose a hunk of metal about a little more than an inch thick. Rose could tell that Adam was trying to impress her and she was flattered, it was nice to be reminded by men that didn't seem like creeps that she was attractive, but it still wasn't the person she wanted to get that attention from.

"What do you think that is?" he questioned Rose. Rose scrutinized the piece of metal. It sure didn't look like anything impressive to her. She'd seen tons of metals that didn't even exist on Earth on the TARDIS alone and they were in much nicer condition. Not knowing what point he was getting at, she answered,

"Er, a lump of metal?" That was the most obvious. Adam realizing that Rose wasn't that amazed turned up the charisma and explained to the clearly unknowledgeable woman.

"Yeah. Yeah, but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist." Whispered Adam in a secretive voice. 'Really?,' thought Rose as she tried to keep a straight face. Considering that she had been sharing a bed with one for a little over three months until about a week ago, she could believe that alien's existed. Of course he was human at the time, but still as time had revealed he was an alien in disguise none the less.

"That's amazing." Said Rose, not wanting to be rude to a man who was enjoying telling what he thought were big discoveries to Rose. Rose was pretty sure that he was only half paying attention to her response when he started to go into another excited lecture.

"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life." Cheered Adam. Rose rolled her eyes, if he only knew. Still his enthusiasm was endearing and Rose humored him yet again. After all who wants to think that they have discovered something new only to realize it was discovered already last week?

"I'm gob smacked, yeah. And you do what, sit here and catalogue it?" Asked Rose, if he was so excited about space and aliens then it was a shame that he was stuck in this room pondering over space junk. In a sense a lot of his excitement reminded her of herself. Rose had a zest for exploring and traveling the universe with the Doctor it was fantastic. She had been like Adam once, just waiting for something exciting to happen in her life, and then she met John and later the Doctor and her life couldn't be more exciting and fun despite the hardship on her relationship. The Doctor took her with him and made the universe their playground. How many women could say that? She did have some worthwhile blessings so far and she had not ruled out having a meaningful relationship with the Doctor. The nature of that was just frustratingly left to be defined was all.

Much to Rose's surprise Adam claimed that what was basically the job title of 'space junk librarian' was the best job in the world. Rose agreed that it might prove interesting for a while but asked him if wouldn't it be much more interesting to go out there and travel among the stars for real, instead toiling in an underground base? Rose certainly thought planet hoping was more fun than just looking up at the stars. Part of her also wondered just how Adam would react if he were given a chance to see the stars like she had. She'd love to see someone else's face light up with wonder like hers had.

"Yeah, I'd give anything. I don't think it's ever going to happen. Not in our lifetimes." Sighed Adam in disappointment. He would have loved to have been able to space travel but any form of manned space travel was still bound to just circling the Earth. Sure next year Rich and famous people would be able to go up in space for a little while, but Adam couldn't afford that. And that certainly wasn't anywhere close to any Star Trek adventure. Van Statten might even have a spot saved for himself on one of those space ships, but in the meantime the rich man had his collecting and cataloging hobby. Rose smiled the smile of someone with a secret but would not tell as she turned to look at some space junk alien tech on the walls. Running her hand over some odd bits of metal she mused,

"Oh, you never know. What about all those people who say they've been inside of spaceships and things and talked to aliens?" Adam laughed at the statement, it would be great if those stories were true, but the most dodgiest people always told those stories.

"I think they're nutters." Stated Adam plainly and Rose began to laugh, she probably was nuts. Anyone else would have run away screaming from her situation but she ran head on into it.

"Yeah, me too. So, how'd you end up here?" Asked Rose as she directed her attention back to the young man behind the desk. Adam explained that his employer had agents that combed the world for genius minds to recruit for his special projects and that was how he ended up here.

"Oh, right. You're a genius." Smirked Rose to the now confident man.

"Sorry, but yeah. I can't help it. I was born clever. When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defense System. Nearly caused World War Three." Giggled Adam like a boy who got caught taking extra sweets from the cupboard. Rose didn't think that was so funny, but Adam thought that it was hilarious.

"Well, you should've been there just to see them running about. Fantastic!" Beamed Adam, Rose smiled at the familiar expression.

"You sound like the Doctor." She laughed. Now that the subject of the Doctor had come up Adam was very curious as to what Rose was doing with the Doctor in this base in the first place and also what was their affiliation? Rose was a very pretty number and Adam again had not seen a pretty young thing his age in well ages. He wouldn't mind getting a chance to take Rose out on a date if they could. And Adam thought himself as a solid in already since he was sure he had impressed her with his excellent mind and alien knowledge. First things first though, what was the Doctor to Rose?

"Are you and him?" Rose casually rested her right hand against her cheek, making sure that the ring was visible on her ring finger and simply said,

"We're married." Adam blushed a bit, why hadn't he noticed the Ring before? Well maybe he had been distracted by her face and um other things thought Adam. Still it seemed like such an odd match, if not for the ring he would have thought that she was joking. Maybe she was one of those trophy wives that were just gold diggers. She couldn't be too serious, look how ugly her husband was. And he seemed a bit of a nutter too. What were they? Vulcan and Venus. Well he wasn't here now so Adam was just going to take the moment for what it was worth and just relax and enjoy the view and company of a gorgeous woman.

"Oh, okay. Good." Stated Adam looking to change the subject. Rose always got annoyed with that look of 'I can't believe that man is married to that young thing', but she more or less learned to ignore it because it came with the relationship. And considering the pros to marrying a lovely man like John, the cons were outweighed. People should know that not everyone married for looks. Personality was a major factor too. And if one had a great personality then that, with time, could make a person pretty in the eyes of the beholder. To Rose the Doctor was no pretty boy, but he made up for that with his gruff attractive features and amazing personality. Sure he could be cold but when he did open up, oh what fun he was and so interesting to just watch move around. Rose decided that she felt like putting the wannabe interloping male in his place and suggestively joked,

"Yeah, it is good." Or at least it was, Rose hoped it still was anyway. To be honest besides hugs and a few snogs, all instigated by her, the Doctor had not touched her in over a week. That was frustrating to say the least. Going from a newlywed life and relationship to a celibate one overnight was no walk in the park. Rose wouldn't mind a return to the newlywed kind of activities they would get up to before the change, but once again that was in the Doctor's hands, not hers. Adam after hearing Rose's suggestive comment had now turned sufficiently pink and deflated to Rose's liking, she brought the conversation back on track.

"So, wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mister Van Statten's got a living creature down there." Questioned Rose to ignite the young man's curiosity and craving for adventure. To be honest she really wanted to see the alien that they had downstairs too.

"Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm. system." Smirked Adam as he began to break into the network of cameras that spanned the whole compound. Rose leaned in next to Adam to get a better look at the screen and declared,

"Let's have a look, then." Declared Rose, adding a hint of flirtation to her voice to get the attention starved man's hands moving faster. It worked and Adam driven by the urge to impress began to type faster as he described the alien to Rose.

"It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot." Explained Adam as they realized that they were watching a man on the CCTV taking a giant drill to the alien's casing. Rose gasped horrified and declared,

"It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?" To which Adam replied that he didn't know where the Doctor was, he wasn't on any of the cameras Adam had access to. Rose couldn't believe what these people were doing to the poor alien she had never seen the likes of before. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Doctor with the alien not a torture session. She had to stop this, it's what the Doctor would do, defend the helpless.

"Take me down there now." Demanded Rose, it was time for action.

000000000000000000000000000

"The metal's just battle armor. The real Dalek creature's inside." Explained the Doctor who had been shuffled by Van Statten and his men into a very large elevator. Van Statten didn't seem at all interested in the warning tone of the Doctor and merely wanted to know what the creature looked like inside the metal. The Doctor exhaled and let out a shudder at having to remember appearance of the foul creature within the metal casing.

"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate." This had Van Statten even more interested at the thought of advance alien biotech.

"Genetically engineered. By whom?" Asked the man who was already coming to a profitable conclusion about the man before him and the knowledge he had. The Doctor was losing his patience, the stupid ape clearly did not get the severity of the situation and how dangerous an 'item' he had in his possession.

"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him." Grumbled the Doctor, still irritated that he had been stopped from killing the Dalek. Goddard was getting annoyed at the Doctor's worried tone. She explained to the Doctor that the Dalek had been on Earth for over half a century and was sold and moved about private collections for years.

"Why would it be a threat now?" She asked, clearly seeing that the Dalek was no more dangerous or manageable today than it was any other day, so why worry? The Doctor did not like the woman's laid back idea about safely imprisoning a Dalek and spat,

"Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?" Asked the Doctor needing to fill in the missing pieces to the puzzle that was this Dalek's continued existence. Goddard explained the Dalek's records, how it fell from the sky, burned for 3 days in a crater before anyone could get to it. That all it had done was scream and that it must have gone insane.

"It must have fallen through time. The only survivor from the war." Stated the Doctor frustrated at the revelation, consumed by emotions, and completely forgetting what kind of company he was currently keeping. Goddard had asked what war the Doctor was referring to and the Doctor explained that the Dalek was from The Time War.

"The final battle between my people and the Dalek race." Clarified the Doctor. Van Statten smiled devilishly and noted to the Doctor that he appeared to have also survived this war.

"Not by choice." Replied the Doctor in a clipped voice, he would have rather died with his people and have been spared the nightmares, guilt and loneliness. A small part of the back of his head whispered to the Doctor, 'but then you wouldn't have met Rose.' And that would have been a shame. He waved the thought aside as he listened to Van Statten's voice switch to a predatory tone that actually made the Doctor ill at ease.

"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth. Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence." And if there was something rare and alien, Van Statten had to own it and add it to his collection.

'Crap.' Thought the Doctor as what Van Statten was getting at dawned on him. He wasn't seen as a person anymore, he was now unclaimed property in this man's eyes.

Minutes later the Doctor found himself stripped of his clothing except for his trousers and chained very undignified to a metal bed. Chains attached to his arms forced him to spread his arms out leaving him feeling vulnerable and in a sense exposed. It hurt too, they were not being gentle with him. He was a lab rat now to be poked and cut up for the sake of Van Statten's interests. He looked across the room and the Time Lord saw what appeared to be some kind of laser scanner and the Doctor began to worry if was only a bit functional. It clearly was not human made, at the wrong setting it could be very painful to be scanned with something like that. He struggled to get away but then the Doctor felt the cold metal table dig into his back as he was pulled back against the table by the two guards holding his restrains in place from across the room. He wondered where Rose was now. The situation had elevated to a new kind of pear shaped when people decided to experiment on him. And one exploratory testing usually led to another. He hoped that they didn't think that she was some kind of alien too, just different from him. If they thought that she was something other than human then Rose would be subjected to this just to be 'safe' in this man's eyes. Plus the idea of Rose being violated like he was now made his blood boil over with rage.

"Now, smile!" Instructed Van Statten as the laser fired off and scanned down the Doctor's body. The Time Lord was right it hurt, it was like having a knife cut into you only to be pulled out again quickly afterwards. On the display attached to the laser scanner, two hearts were seen beating inside the Doctor's chest. Van Statten squealed in glee and while rubbing his hands together cackled,

"Two hearts! Binary vascular system. Oh, I am so going to patent this." What a find that this new pet should just come to him. He could learn enough from this alien's body alone to set him monetarily for life. And unlike the Dalek he wasn't behind armor and the Doctor had something to lose. The English girl he came with, if she was even English. She would have to be examined too and he would gladly oversee that. If she was just a normal human it was no loss. He had the Doctor and he could easily keep her locked away to keep the Doctor in line. Anyone with eyes in their head could tell that the Doctor had been protective of her. She meant something to the Doctor and that could be used like any asset. If he threatened the girl a little he might even be able to pick mental knowledge from the Doctor more or less willingly. The Doctor couldn't read Van Statten's thoughts but he could read his body and the look on the man's face. He was thinking about how he could get the most out of this new alien that dropped into his lap. He was a vulture picking off the scraps of far superior beings.

"So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it." Hissed the Doctor who was still in pain from the invasive procedure. Van Statten laughed at the Doctor's judging statement and declared,

"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" The Doctor was disgusted with the greedy and selfish human, it was never a pleasure to meet creatures so vile. Why did it always come down to money? Lying, cheating, deception. All just to get a little more money.

"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."

"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." Smiled the man as she puffed out his chest again inflating his ego more, it was so good to be king. Van Statten went back to the laser. Desperate for some sanity the Doctor pleaded for the idiot to understand the danger his hubris was putting everyone on this planet in.

"Listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!" Unshaken Van Statten stated plainly that nothing could escape the Cage and began to blast the Doctor again with his laser. They had the rest of his body to explore after all. The Doctor screamed in pain until the scan stopped. Through a cracked voice the Doctor screamed at Van Statten,

"But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet!" Annoyed with the parroting rhetoric of the alien, Van Statten ran the laser scan again, just to hear the Doctor scream and shut him up. Looking to humiliate the Doctor into being quiet, Van Statten smirked,

"What do you say we see if any of those other parts that I'm sure your pretty friend would be very familiar with can help advance 'man'kind further. If you cooperate, I might even grant you visitation rights, supervised of course. Don't want her damaging my property, after all. Heck, might even get some useful information from your exchanges. I mean, she sounds English but so do you Doctor, if not your species than what is she? I guess we'll just have to find out." The Doctor still in blinding pain from the laser glared at the man and Van Statten was in ecstasy at finally having asserted his power and the feeling of humiliation over the Doctor. Feeling as generous as a god in times of plenty, Van Statten made an offer to get the Doctor's brain moving ahead of time.

"Tell you what, Doctor. If you can make me 10 billion dollars in a week through your assistances, I'll give your cat burglar a cell right next to yours, or across from yours. Your choice of course." Smiled Van Statten as he began to give out instructions to his guards to secure the blonde 'English' girl for testing. Property had to be cataloged and accounted for.

000000000000000000

Rose was oblivious to the Doctor's sufferings at the moment, but she was wondering where he had gotten off to. It would be so useful if the Doctor carried a cell phone. She had to talk to him about that later, but in the meantime she had an alien to help rescue. Adam and Rose made their way to the cage quite easily and were only stopped once outside the cage by the armed guards. Adam however was able to get the guards off their backs by bluffing that he had,

"Level three access. Special clearance from Mister Van Statten." Declared Adam, which fortunately the guards bought. He hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble for this later, but all he was doing was seeing the alien. It was Rose who had walked there after all. He had been instructed to see after Rose, but he wasn't told to keep her anywhere specific or that she couldn't walk about as long as she was supervised. The cage door opened and Rose and Adam walked inside to see what Adam assumed was both their first alien. 'Close Encounters of the third kind,' thought Adam with a bit of delight but he was also scared too and decided that he could see the alien just fine from across the room. He remembered what happened to the last guy who got too close after all.

"Don't get too close." Instructed Adam as the door closed behind them, locking them into the room with the alien. Adam kept back and stared at the alien, but Rose looked on in fascination and moved forward. It was a strange thing and most might avoid it in fear, but Rose was different from everyone else now. She walked right up to the alien. The doctor had helped Rose broaden her horizons and her understanding as to what a person, people, where beyond the typical human definition. The Doctor had taught Rose to see what was different from her and not to cringe back in fear but to accept it and see it for its beauty and how it was unique. Rose didn't see an alien 'thing,' she saw a person, a person very different from her, but a person none the less. And she could see that this person was mistreated and most likely suffering a great deal at the hands of members of her own species. She felt shame and wanted to right things and show that not all humans were like its jailers. Cautiously so not to alarm the person, Rose quietly approached and looking into what she assumed was its eye she softly spoke,

"Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose Smith. I've got someone with me, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?" The alien answered 'yes' and Rose questioned, for clarity, what it meant by 'yes'. To which the alien informed Rose that it was in pain.

"They torture me, but still they fear me. Do you fear me?" It asked in a tired metallic voice that elicited sympathy from Rose. Her heart went out to it and Rose told the alien that she did not fear it. She wanted the poor thing to feel comforted.

"I am dying." The alien announced in a sad voice as it moved its 'eye' downward. Rose was now very concerned and assured the alien that she and the Doctor could help save it.

"I welcome death. But I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid." Rose's heart was breaking now and asked if there was anything she could do for the alien.

"My race is dead, and I shall die alone." Stated the metallic alien plainly. 'It's alone, it's the last of its kind. Just like the Doctor.' Thought Rose sadly. But she didn't want the Doctor or this alien to feel alone. The alien didn't have a face that Rose could read but she had seen the sorrow in the Doctor's eyes often enough to understand how devastated this poor alien was. She wanted to take away its pain, just as she wanted to take away the Doctor's. She wanted to keep her husband from being lonely for as long as she could. She knew that a person who was the member of a species that had at least over 5 billion members could never truly understand the pain and suffering of being the last of your own kind. She was reminded of that daily by just seeing the Doctor, and by feeling her inability to touch her husband's hearts in that place that hurt most of all, but that didn't mean she didn't think that there was nothing she could do. She could offer some comfort. It might not seem like anything compared to the grief carried by these two souls. 'But it was better to have some comfort than none at all, yeah?' asked Rose of herself. In the only gesture she could do to console the alien, Rose reached out for the Dalek's head.

"Rose, no!" warned Adam but it was already too late. Rose had touched the Dalek's head and the brief touch had burned in a way Rose had never felt before. Quickly she removed her hand only to see a golden handprint which quickly faded where she had placed her hand. That was when the alien became more animated and began to shout as it broke its chains,

"Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!" Simmons who had been observing from outside through the CCTV saw that the situation had escalated and rushed into the room to take back control. Very worried Rose started to back up to where Adam was standing.

"What the hell have you done?" Shouted the angry man at Rose as he ran at the alien carrying the large drill he had been seen with early by Rose and Adam. In its defense the Dalek raised its plunger shaped appendage at Simmons. Obviously not impressed by the alien's 'attempt' at looking intimidating Simmons threw his head back and laughed,

"What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?" And before Simmons could laugh for very long the Dalek did just that! Its plunger vacuum sucked the man's head into the plunger breaking and crushing the man's skull quickly but very painfully. At this petrifying sight Rose and Adam fled from the room in terror, shouting for help. Rose yelled to the guards that the man in the cage needed help and that the alien was killing the man still inside. The guard called a 'Condition Red' and sounded the alarm throughout the compound.

News spread fast in the compound and it didn't take long for word to reach the room that Van Statten was currently experimenting on the Doctor in. Van Statten looked worried as the overhead informed him that it was not a drill. Hunched over and being held up by his tired arms was the Doctor. Raising his weary head the Doctor knew that the very thing he had warned against had come to pass. Every guard had now left the room to see to the 'condition red' and Van Statten was alone with the restrained Doctor. Condition Red meant that the alien had escaped its restraints and it was now a very dangerous threat.

"Release me if you want to live." Stated the Doctor plainly and coldly. Very much afraid of the Doctor but more for his life, Van Statten complied and unshackled the Doctor. The Doctor rubbed his strained wrists which were already starting to feel better. He healed fast. The Doctor then promptly punched Van Statten in the gut so hard that the man keeled over gasping like a fish for air. The doctor got down on his knee and grabbed the scared man by his expensive shirt and hissed in a voice that made the little man want to wet himself,

"Let's get one thing straight, Van Statten. It doesn't really bother me that you experimented on me. Somewhere along the line some stupid aliens are going to think they have the right to do that to me and I can deal with it. It doesn't bother me that you threatened me, occupational hazard. But what really bothers me is any**one** or any**thing** threatening Rose in any form. If I didn't have more important things to worry about you would be getting far worse than that. You would right now be facing the full wrath of a Time Lord enraged. But mark my words, if anything happens to Rose, I will make you sorry." The Doctor released the human and then went over to the table where his jacket and jumper had been stripped off him and put them back on. The Time Lord straightened his jacket and then walked over to the weary and gasping Van Statten.

"Well are ya gonna stand there all day, shift! I need to see what you've got to fight a Dalek with!" Roared the Doctor. Van Statten then wordlessly led to Doctor back to his office and were greeted by a stunned and confused Goddard. She was in the process of finding out what was going on in the cage via a video link conversation when the two men had burst into the room. The Doctor ran up to the vid link so that he could assess the situation better and thankfully saw Rose. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief and then a groan of frustration. Rose was safe for the moment but of course, if there was any danger to be had, Rose had to be right next to it.

"You've got to keep it in that cell." Ordered the Doctor to the guards in the room. The Dalek was already trying to escape its confinement. Rose, Adam and a few guards were gathered around the vid phone awaiting information as to what was the next move. Rose couldn't help but feel that she had started all this trouble and began to explain herself.

"Doctor, it's all my fault..." Rose tried to explain what had happened but she was interrupted by an armed guard poking his head into the center of the view screen.

"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations." He said confidently, it was a problem that it had gotten out, but the guard was sure that it could be left in that room forever if it had to be. The Doctor groaned at the human's hubris and in a clipped voice declared,

"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." As if on cue the lock was beginning to open, the Dalek had indeed cracked the lock's combination with ease. The door itself opened and the guards were now on high alert and led guard ordered anyone with a gun to open fire. Van Statten was horrified, enraged and outraged by the orders the guard had given without permission from him, Henry Van Statten. The man demanded over the vid phone in his office,

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed". The Doctor was now deathly worried for Rose and shouted for her to get out of there. The Doctor felt his heart sink as he helplessly watched the Dalek approach his Rose. Rose and Adam fearing what the Dalek could do to them moved toward the exit where the armed guards were massing and one named DeMaggio was assigned to see them to safety. However strangely enough rather than attack the Dalek turned left of them and headed towards the guard's computer terminal. The three than began the mammoth task of moving up countless flights of steps to the safety of the upper levels. The Doctor was happy that Rose had left the room but he was gripped with fear as the Dalek approached their vid link. The last thing they saw before the picture went black was that feared plunger coming at them.

**0000000000000000000000000000 0000**

"We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah." Declared Goddard as she tried to figure out what the Dalek was doing via the office computer terminal.

"It's downloading." Explained the Doctor with dread. Van Statten asked what it could possibly be downloading, but his question was interrupted by Goddard,

"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down."

"It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything." Said the Doctor grimly. 'Why did people always underestimate the Daleks?' Asked the Doctor of himself. Maybe the Daleks' made their armor with a stupid looking design on purpose so they'd always have the advantage of a surprise attack over unknowing species.

"The cameras in the vault have gone down." Informed Goddard. And with the cameras out the Doctor would not be able to keep a watchful eye on Rose. He could only hope that she was making her way up to the office now and would soon be back safely at his side. Things were getting out of hand and this had to end now, thought the Doctor as he observed the chaos the Dalek was already causing and it had only killed one person so far to his knowledge.  
"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!" Demanded the Doctor, not understanding why Van Statten was so set on keeping the thing alive.

"All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately." Announced Goddard to all the armed personnel. Little did she realize that she was just sending lambs to the slaughter. The Doctor couldn't help but feel like the mythical Cassandra, he knew all but seemed to lack the ability to convince. He mournfully wondered just how many humans with guns would have to die before Van Statten and his cronies would finally listen to him.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry guys you have to wait a bit longer to get to some more of the juicy bits that I know is the reason you probably read this story, heh. Tell me what you think. I decided to make Van Statten's character a bit more deviant than he was in the original story. It was actually a little uncomfortable for me to make a conversation with more suggestive content, but it felt appropriate. So going out of my comfort zone, doing it for you guys. I hope none of you think it is too out of character. Got a slight injury that slowed me down this week, but I should get better soon hopefully.


	32. Chapter 32 - The Walls between us

**Complicated**

**By The Plot Thinens**

**The Walls between us - Chapter 32**

"Civilians! Let them through!" Shouted De Maggio, as she cleared a path through the growing crowd of guards for her civilian charges. Faster and faster they ran down the corridors as the sound of bullets flying and men screaming echoed through the halls. The sooner that they reached the stairs and began ascending up the better. Guards began to fall to the floor dead as the Dalek now fully healed began to exterminate the non-daleks.

Now that the security cameras were out, everyone in Van Statten's office could only use the comm System as a means to determine what was going on below. All that could be heard was the sounds of guns firing and men screaming bloody murder. Van Statten could not believe that highly trained paid soldiers were firing on and attempting to damage **HIS** property. What was he paying then for? Fuming he pounded on his desk he needed to send out an angry message to his 'trigger happy' employees.

"Tell them to stop shooting at it." Roared Van Statten to his frightened employee, Goddard. She now realized that what the Doctor had been saying all along was correct and that they were all in great danger. This was obvious, so how could her employer still be harping for his employees to basically lay down their arms and not even try to defend themselves against such a threat? These were highly trained soldiers. They didn't just open fire unless their lives were in danger. It was mad, they weren't paid to die nor should they be expected to. A very different picture of her employer was starting to be painted in her mind.

"But it's killing them!" Declared Goddard, protesting the order to give the guards such a suicidal command. Van Statten glared at his employee,

"They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique." He then uncaringly barked into the comm.,

"I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?" Goddard lost all respect for her employer in that very instance. The fire then stated to quiet down and that was when the gun fire stopped and he realized that there was no one left alive to shoot. Not wanting to join her fallen co-workers in death Goddard began to call up a schematic of the base on Van Statten's personal computer. She wanted to know where that Dalek was so they could devise a way to best contain it and prevent not only her death but also the death of the other poor souls inside this base with that monster. Bringing the Doctor's attention to her screen, she explained the layout to the only person she felt could save them from themselves.

"That's us, right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek." She said as she pointed to a blip on the screen that indicated where the Dalek was. Knowing that when it came to the Daleks a fight would usually break out the Doctor began to think of means to fight back that would kill a Dalek.

"This museum of yours. Have you got any alien weapons?" Asked the Doctor, very interested now in Van Statten's collection of junk, hoping that it wasn't all junk and musical instruments. Obediently the woman answered,

"Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them." Not wanting to yet give up on getting to keep the most priced item in his collection Van Statten suggested,

"We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there." The Doctor did not like this plan at all and it only show cased just how little this pathetic man valued life.

"Leaving everyone trapped with it. Rose is down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that?" Growled the Doctor at the man who if he had it his way would leave Rose down there to starve to death, if she were lucky. Deciding to now ignore anything said by the man the Doctor brought his attention back to the screen and to Goddard, who was now the only possibly useful human in the room. Scrutinizing the map on the screen the Doctor determined the Dalek's most likely route, which turned out to be the Weapons testing area. In a voice that read no humor only business the Doctor demanded,

"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it."

Rose, Adam and De Maggio finally had made it to the first stretch of their destination,

"Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!" Cheered Rose to the group as they began to make their way up the level '53' staircase. Never in her life had Rose been happier that she had legs.

"It's coming! Get up!" Shouted De Maggio, seeing the Dalek close behind them. It moved faster than it looked. Half way up the first flight of stairs the trio risked a look down to see if their guess was right. The alien stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked down at them. It was indeed stuck, feeling quite cocky and safe due to the superior design he felt of having legs, Adam jeered at the Dalek,

"Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs." De Maggio did not feel as safe as Adam and pulled out her gun and pointed it at the Dalek. She expressed her demand for the Dalek to return to its cage and any negotiations could be done from there. She also noted to the creature that they may have been wrong to imprison it but the killing had to stop. The Dalek did not attempt to engage in conversation with the woman and merely said,

"Elevate." To the three's horror the Dalek began to hover slowly up the stairs towards them. Rose and Adam looked on in horror, but De Maggio poised to do her duty ordered the two to move up the stairs and get away from the alien.

"Come with us. You can't stop it." Begged Rose to the woman, but De Maggio just stated that someone had to try to stop it.

"Now get out! Don't look back. Just run." She shouted to her charges. Adam and Rose complied and ran up the stairs. It wasn't long before the sound of gunfire was silenced by the sound of a deathly scream and the two knew that the brave woman was dead for their sake. Tears began to trickle down Rose's face. If only she had not touched the alien. She had had enough death for one day.

Van Statten was scared and not happy. He looked at the Doctor with irritation and derision. Obviously still viewing the Doctor as his property, he was very displeased with its performance. The Doctor to him at least seemed to talk a big game, but he wasn't putting a stop to the man's alien pet running wild.

"I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." The man scoffed. 'Needs? Oh I'll tell him what it needs.' Thought the Doctor grimly and without turning his head from the computer screen, he clipped,

"What's the nearest town?" Knowledgeably Van Statten answered, 'Salt Lake City'. Again just as clipped the Doctor asked what the population of the city was.

"One million." Again Van Statten answered like it was second nature, and the Doctor bleakly stated,

"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."

"But why would it do that?" Shouted the befuddled man, the Dalek's behavior made no sense to him. What profit or gain was there to have from killing everything it came in contact with? The Doctor just shook his head at the tiny minded human. He just didn't get it. Not everything could be bought or sold, especially a Dalek's will to exterminate. This was a mentality and understanding that was far beyond this human's abilities to comprehend. He had to try and put this in as simple as terms could get.

"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!" Hissed the Doctor to the terrified human. The Doctor then turned his attention to the comm Link and shouted off to the remaining guards, information vital to help them have any chance at killing the Dalek. He told them it had a force field to melt bullets. He told them that the key to killing them was to concentrate their fire on the eyestalk. The guards having not seen the horror that killed their dead comrades below, did not listen to the Doctor. Their arrogance would be their downfall.

"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!" Shouted the Commander of the guards as his men took cover for the fight. Fortunately for Rose and Adam these men were very well trained and did not open fire of the two when the cleared the corner from where the guards and some of the scientists were stationed.

"Hold your fire! You two, get the hell out of there!" The Commander shouted to Rose and Adam who gladly ran past them and out of the large room. That was when the Dalek cleared the corner and Rose couldn't help but feel that it was focusing on her. Adam pulled Rose roughly by the arm and tugged her away from the battle about to begin.

"It was looking at me." Declared Rose, Adam was not impressed with this information and thought that Rose was being driven a bit witless and silly from all the stress, danger and death she had witnessed.

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us." He said back wanting to move her along quicker. Rose tried to clarify that she felt the thing was looking for her specifically. Again Adam was not impressed.

"So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around." Declared Adam not seeing the significance to what Rose was saying. Rose would be miffed at Adam but she wasn't even sure what she was getting at either it was just a feeling.

"I don't know. It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me." Rose said confused before she began to quicken her pace. Adam was running very quickly now and she was having a bit of trouble keeping up. For a nerd locked up all day in a cluttered office, he sure could run.

"On my mark. Open fire!" The occupants of the lavish office heard the Commander shout. Suddenly Goddard announced,

"We've got vision." The video feed in the office had sparked back to life and the CCTV camera in the Weapons testing room was online. The Doctor watched with dread as he witnessed the ignorant humans wasting their ammo on all the wrong places. 'Damn. They need to concentrate their fire on the head!' Thought the Doctor. And he also knew why the cameras were now 'deciding' to work.

"It wants us to see." The Time Lord said grimly. A hail of bullets rained down on the Dalek but had no effect on its metal armor. Not seeming to care at all about the bullets and rightfully so, the Dalek then began to hover about the ground and high up into the air. The Guards were momentarily confused but resumed firing their weapons. They were even more confused when the Dalek instead of attacking a hostile target, trained its weapon on the sprinkler system instead. A layer of water covered the concrete floor and every human being in the room. The Commander wondered what it was getting at. Was this a diversion? Such a minor annoyance wasn't going to give it an advantage. The Commander did not have long to wonder before the Dalek fired its weapon downward and successfully electrocuted every human at ground level with a high voltage blast. The Commander now afraid for his safety and that of his soldiers tried to order a retreat but he like his comrades before him were promptly exterminated. The Dalek had done what it was made to do and it floated above its handiwork of corpses as the water still poured over its frame. To a Dalek this was glorious what it had done, but it was kind of funny how the water almost made the Dalek look like it was silently crying. The vid link, once more cut out.

The Doctor gazed sadly at the images of the dead men on the large television screen before the video feed ended. The poor fools had not stood a chance against one Dalek. His silent mourning for the lives lost was only interrupted by the sniveling voice of Van Statten, which made the Doctor's stomach turn slightly.

"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place." Suggested the man sheepishly, now fearing ever more for his life. 'Well apparently he at least values, HIS life over his collection.' Grumbled the Doctor to himself in irritation

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out." Replied Goddard, a hint of irritation and disgust on her voice now having witnessed her employer's lack of courage, leadership, or even value of human life. All he cared about was saving his own skin and if that was the case, the woman was going to throw in her chips with the Doctor. The Doctor was now her boss for this situation as far as she was concerned if she wanted to get out alive. She would defer only to him now.

"You said we could seal the vault." Questioned the Doctor hopeful but not as optimistic when the information was coming from this man. Van Statten sat down at his computer and began typing madly and explained,

"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war. Steel bulkheads." Goddard looked again to her employers with disgust and turning her head to the Doctor she informed him that that plan would not work as there was not enough power to operate the massive bulkheads. 'No. No. No. She wasn't thinking outside the box.' Thought the Doctor and he voiced,

"We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors." Goddard was still not convinced that there was any way that would work. They would have to bypass the security codes and that would take a computer genius which they don't have.  
"Good thing you've got me, then." Said Van Statten cockily as he began to do just that. The Doctor could not believe that this man wanted to help now, but Van Statten simply stated that he did not wish to die.

"Nobody knows this software better than me." The man smirked, thank goodness for cowards' motivation to live, thought the Doctor. Goddard started to feel that they would have more of a chance now. However any sunny thoughts of escape she was having were interrupted when she noticed that the Dalek had once more reappeared on the screen and she pointed it out to the other two people in the room.

"I shall speak only to the Doctor." The Daleks mechanical voice hissed. It was now back on the ground and still being rained down on by the broken sprinkler system. The Doctor would be lying if he wasn't a bit apprehensive and yes scared to face the Dalek, even on a TV screen, but drummed up his courage born of hatred and defiantly stood up straight.

"You're going to get rusty." Jeered the Doctor at the hated thing.

"I fed off the DNA of Rose Smith. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me." The Dalek explained to the Time Lord. What was it getting at? There wasn't really a reason for it to talk to him. It already knew 'everything'. Maybe it was lonely now that it murdered all of its playmates, the Doctor thought with disdain.

"What's your next trick?" spat the Doctor. The Dalek continued its line of thought and explained to the Doctor what it had learned,

"I have been searching for the Daleks." Oh the Doctor knew what the Dalek would find after his search and the thought made the Doctor happy. 'See how it feels ya talking tin can' thought the Doctor.

"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?" Asked the Doctor, in a snarky voice, guessing the answer.

"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes." Announced the Dalek to the security camera in a voice that almost had a hint of desperation or despair maybe. It was too subtle to catch.

"And?" Asked the Doctor bored of this conversation already and wanting its conclusion.

"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?" The Dalek asked as if it were slightly panicked. The Doctor loved watching it struggle with the data it had absorbed and mocked the Dalek,

"You're just a soldier without commands." Left with nothing else to do and no orders to follow the Dalek had no choice but to go back to basics.

"Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek's instinct to destroy, to conquer." It shouted at the Doctor. 'Again the same old song, change the bloody record already.' Thought the Doctor.

"What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for." Snarled the Doctor. 'Just like me.' Mourned the Doctor in his head for all he and his people ever were, now lost to time forever. The Dalek was at a loss for what came next if the Doctor's argument was to be believed. Its world was falling apart and not knowing what else to do it asked the Doctor,

"Then what should I do?" The Doctor knew exactly what he would like the Dalek to do. What they all should have done in the first place. What would have saved the universe so much pain and suffering. With a firm voice the Doctor peered at the Dalek through the vid-link and commanded,

"All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself." This was an unacceptable order that the Dalek could not logically follow and it voiced its belief that the Daleks must survive above all things.

"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?" Roared the Doctor who was now foaming with anger and hatred towards the metal monster. The Dalek stared for a moment at the Doctor, such hatred and desire for death and destruction. The Dalek paid the Doctor the highest compliment that it could as a Dalek.

"You would make a good Dalek." And with that the screen went to black and the Doctor was chilled to the bone. 'No, that's not the case. I am nothing like that thing and I'm going to stop it from harming anyone else.' Thought the Doctor resolutely.

"Seal the Vault." Commanded the Doctor to Van Statten.

The Doctor and Van Statten where now busily typing away on their respective terminals. This was beyond her level and Goddard just looked on amazed at the speed of the two. Van Statten not taking his eyes off the screen informed the Doctor of his status.

"I can leech power off the ground defenses, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast." Smirked the man with a little bit of confidence. The Doctor was in no mood for his bragging glared at Van Statten and questioned,

"Are you enjoying this?" 'Rassilon this human had mixed up priorities!' reflected the Doctor with scorn.

While the two had been typing Goddard had been looking down at a computer tablet in her hand. Based on ID badge scanners on ever employee, as they cleared a checkpoint, Goddard ran a tally of every person who had now been evacuated to the upper levels past the bulkhead that that were in the process of starting to close. It was hard to tell if everyone had made it out yet. The death tolls were unconfirmed, but basing her estimation on the fact that any guard who had been on the same floor as the Dalek was probably dead, she assumed that everyone was out… Except for two. Adam and the Doctor's companion, Rose. The Doctor needed to know this, it would be cruel to not tell him that Rose was still at risk. Too many people had already died, she could not stomach any more. Goddard had now seen where her hubris had brought her and now she wanted to make amends. If she could give information to help the Doctor save another life then she would do it. This way the Doctor could make his plans to accommodate a possible rescue, if they could swing it. So with a heavy heart she informed the Doctor of the unfortunate news.

"Doctor, she's still down there." The Doctor knew exactly who she was talking about. In his panic to stop the Dalek he had for a moment forgotten about Rose. What if she was being exterminated right now?! He was the worst technically-still-husband in the world to forget about his technically-still-his-wife. Slightly panicked the Doctor grabbed for a blue tooth device on Van Statten's desk and attached it to his very large ear. He then used the office phone to dial Rose's mobile number and got back to typing. 'Why was it taking so long?' his very large Time Lord brain tortured himself after every long drawn out ring. He tried to distract himself with more typing, but every worst case scenario just kept blasting its way to the front of his mind. 'Pick up, Rose. Pick up.' The Doctor begged in his head. Finally after three rings that took forever his Rose answered the call and the Doctor let out a quick sigh of relief. She was alive. He'd old man dance, right now, if he had the time to.

Rose and Adam were tearing up the staircase like the devil was after them, and in a sense it was. Adam was rather fit for a computer nerd and was going up the steps three or four at a time while Rose could only manage two at a time with her shorter legs. She was beginning to hate the repeating staircase when her mobile ringed and trying not to slow down answered it.

"This isn't the best time, dearrrr." Groaned Rose into her mobile phone in a slightly irritated singsong voice, knowing that she needed the air she was using to talk to breathe for running. The Doctor ignored her tone and, trying to sound focused and calm, quickly asked, into the phone headset, where she was. Rose looked up at the painted number on the wall of the concrete and metal staircase and huffed,

"Level forty nine." She hoped that was a good thing. Worried about how close Rose was cutting it the Doctor let out a strained breath and announced to Rose his plan,

"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six." Rose could feel the worry in the Doctor's voice and agreed to herself that that was going to be a close race to the finish. But why was he shutting them off now? Couldn't he wait for her to get there first?

"Can't you stop them closing?" Asked Rose confused not by the urgency, she knew they had to contain the Dalek, but by why the Doctor couldn't wait and give her time to escape.

"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. I've only got limited time and power to close them. You have got to make it on your own in time. You **can**make it, I know you can." Explained the Doctor sounding even more serious. 'Oh, Rose. Rose. Rose, use those magnificent legs of yours and get up here before its too late!' were the thoughts screaming in the Doctor's head.

'No pressure!' thought Rose as she climbed higher and higher up the dizzying stairs. She actually was beginning to wish that she had had something to eat an hour before hand, it probably would have helped her move her butt. The Doctor was very worried, the Doors were ready to be closed and couldn't be left on standby for long and the Dalek was gaining on the two humans' path. Rose was in danger and he couldn't do anything to help her along. The Doctor's mind raced with the possibilities of things all bad that could happen and in a voice that held a hint of fear and losing control begged Rose,

"Now for God's sake, run." Just hearing a shaking the Doctor's voice was enough to get more adrenaline pumping through Rose, this was serious. She was running for her life, literally and she sped up.

"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." Announced Van Statten to the Doctor who was sitting at the main control for the bulkheads' doors. They were running out of time, he would have to close it soon, whether his wife was on the other end of it or it. The Doctor was afraid.

"The Dalek's right behind them." Declared Goddard from her position. The Doctor was sitting at the edge of his seat waiting to hear through his headset that Rose had cleared the exit. He could hear her huffing and puffing along as she announced she was at level 46. Just the sound of her continuing to breathe was the most heavenly music to the Time Lord's ears.

"We're nearly there. Give us two seconds." Shouted Rose into the phone as Adam started to break even further ahead of her. The Doctor wanted to give Rose all the time in the universe and continued to stall for time until Van Statten's voice pulled him from his intense and stressed listening to Rose over the phone.

"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads." 'He's right,' thought the Doctor. This little twit was right. It was across the 'boards' if he didn't start the closing process now the door system would fail and they would never be able to stop the Dalek from escaping. He looked at the blip on the screen indicating that the Dalek was closing in and it was now or never. Feeling the pain and loathing only felt by those who by forced hands were made blood traitors, the Doctor pressed the enter key at his console and in a shaky breath he whispered to Rose,

"I'm sorry. Hurry, Rose." 'Hurry, my Rose. Make it on time.' The Doctor begged in his mind.

Level 46 seemed far too big for Rose and Adam's liking as they rounded a corner and the bulkhead door that would seal off the exit became visible. The Door was closing and it already looked too late to make it in time but they had to try. Adam ran even faster leveling Rose a good 20 feet behind him and shouted to her,

"Come on!" Then in a manner that would make Indiana Jones proud, the young man dived for the bottom of the closing bulkhead and managed to roll across the door frame to safety with inches to spare.

Back in the Van Statten's office the group was unable to tell what was happening as the security cameras were still out. The Doctor waited with baited breath for Rose to say the words that his hearts were screaming for. The all clear that she was safe and that the Dalek as trapped on the other side away from Rose.

"The vault is sealed." Announced Van Statten. The Doctor could stand the tension no longer and asked into the phone,

"Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?" He was afraid of her answer.

Rose had her head leaning against the bulkhead door on the wrong side. This was not good and she knew it. She was trapped and now she had to somehow find the courage to be cheerful, she guessed, about the situation. She needed to hear the Doctor's calm steady voice and if he started freaking out, she was sure she would too.

"Sorry, I was a bit slow." Smiled Rose sadly into her phone like she had missed the last subway car for the night. 'Wasn't that always the case, a wall between us.' Pondered Rose, trying to see the humor in her soon to be ironic end. She turned her head and saw that the Dalek was making its slow way towards her. There was no getting out now and there was little time left. 20 years was all she was getting. She was going to die. That alien was too dangerous. It could probably kill every living thing on the planet and it needed to be sealed away in this bunker for the safety of the world. Her life would be traded for the, now what? 7 billion people on the planet's lives? That seemed like a fair trade. 'I just hope that I can maintain my dignity to the end,' she thought, 'none of that pre-death sissy screaming, please.' Well this was it, if she had known that things were going to end this soon maybe she wouldn't have worried so much or been a little bolder with the Doctor. Those were her only regrets on that matter. Rose had seen what that Dalek, that funny looking pepper pot, could do. She'd also heard what it could do too and she wondered morbidly if it was as painful as it had seemed. Well she would find out soon enough. She hoped that when she keeled over that it was at least in a dignified position since she'd be in that pose probably until her bones turned to dust now. Would it be so painful that the pain would be her last thoughts and not her loved ones? That would be a shame.

The Dalek drew closer and despite Rose best efforts to remain calm, she began to panic. She decided to focus on the phone and her last conversation with the Doctor, there was strength to be found in that. Maybe if she was lucky she could just keep her back turned and talk to her husband until the end so she wouldn't see it coming. How many movies had she seen end like this? It was funny what went through your head when you were about to die. Now fully focused on the Doctor, she knew what he would do. She knew him well enough as John and now a bit better as the Doctor. They were both self sacrificing and blamed themselves for everything. The Doctor she knew carried anguish of the death of his people with him and even if he didn't see it as losing a spouse, he would at least be losing a friend. 'He's a widower in a few moments,' thought Rose sadly and she decided that she had to do and say whatever she could so that he would not feel guilt about her passing. Though she was probably sure he would anyway but she had to try.

"See you, then, Doctor." She said in a melancholy voice, then after sucking back tears and a breath she said in a stronger voice,

" It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. I don't want you feeling guilty over this, yeah? If you can do anything for me just go on living a full and happy life. One that's good enough for two. And pick up Jack right away. I don't' want you to be alone. You two keep going on and having adventures for me. Have enough fun for all of us." Rose said almost begging for him to accept that information before she died. She never wanted him to be lonely or miserable again. She'd do it all again, she had no regrets in marrying him, of that she was sure. How could she regret all he had given her? If he hadn't come along she never would have had the love and friendship she experienced with John, or the new friendship and adventure among the stars she had experienced with him as the Doctor. It wasn't always easy, but her life was richer for meeting the Doctor. Again she had no regrets and she didn't want him to have regrets either.

"And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I'd do it all again to be with you, without a second thought." Announced Rose. The Dalek was right on top of her now, and she wasn't going to get another chance to say it again…ever. And she wanted those words to be the last off her lips.

"I love you, Doctor." Declared Rose into the phone, but it was nearly drowned out by the sound of a Dalek's voice shouting,

"Exterminate!" The Doctor then heard the horridly familiar sound of the Dalek weapon of choice and throw off his earpiece. It already haunted him. He couldn't stand to hear anymore. He didn't want to hear her die. But his mind morbidly forced him to picture the over a hundred thousand different ways she could be lying lifeless on the floor next to that Dalek and the Doctor felt ill. He'd now lost his entire family to the Daleks and the horrible war that he thought he had ended. He had done this, he had failed. Failed in his mission to end the war, failed to protect the last being in the universe that was family. He was a murderer, the murderer of his wife. It almost didn't seem real, until the words came out of his mouth that solidified reality,

"I killed her." The Doctor stated plainly as he stared into empty space and repeating thoughts began to circle in his head. Rose was dead, really dead. He'd lost her. Any time he had left with her was gone and he couldn't even bury her now. He failed her, failed at everything involving her. Failed as a friend, a protector,…a husband. He had no one again and the Doctor never did well on his own. His spiraling dark thoughts were interrupted by Van Statten meekly saying an apology. The Doctor turned his icy blue gaze on the pathetic little human and couldn't believe that Rose had been from the same species as this despicable thing. Let alone that her life had been sacrificed the save this one's.

"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me." He hissed coming at his prey like a wild animal finally let out of imprisonment. Very frightened by the Doctor, the man tried to reason out his actions to the Time Lord,

"It was the prize of my collection!" he said quickly as he started to back up from the Time Lord. This did not help and the Doctor curled his lip in disgust.

"Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth my Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." Spat the Doctor. Van Statten saw a chance to compare himself to that exploratory spirit and explained,

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!" Surely the Doctor could understand that, thought the man.

"You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get… And you took her down with you. She was twenty years old. And I had so much I wanted to show her, to do for her and now that's all gone." Said the Doctor as he glared at the pathetic human. 'The only human left in his life that could ever possibly have helped him find a way to live with himself was dead because of this stupid, knuckle dragging, flea picking, smelly hairless ape! He was now alone again with the demons and monsters inside his head put there from years of war. His mind went to dark places in search of what he viewed as the perfect punishment for this stupid tiny ape.

**Author's Notes: **Poor you like how I portrayed **'**The Oncoming Storm?' Well hands down you probably like it better than Sandy. I hope that my East Coast readers are safe and will soon have all their utilities back. I also hope no one lost any property or worse. If you are an East Coast denizen, and you want to, tell me that you are okay.


	33. Chapter 33 - Survivors of War

**Complicated**

**by The Plot Thinens**

**Survivors of War - Chapter 33 **

Rose felt. That was kind of odd, feeling. She was sure that the dead felt nothing. The dead certainly didn't seem to feel anything when they were possessed by the Gelth. And death, it had not hurt either. From the screams she heard she would have expected to get to test out her lungs before she died. That's when the logical conclusion came to her mind that she was not dead. 'I'm alive. Why, am I still alive?' she thought to herself. Under normal circumstances she probably would wonder why she was looking a gift horse in the mouth, but she knew the Dalek was still there. She needed to drum up her courage to look, because she feared that by looking at it, the alien would change its mind and kill her. Slowly she turned her head over her shoulder and saw that the Dalek was there and not killing her. It was just sitting there, staring at her. What was it waiting for? Was it not bad enough that it was going to kill her, it had to draw out her death too?

"Go on then, kill me. Why're you doing this?" She asked puzzled. The Dalek in its metallic voice simply declared,

" I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose." 'Yeah, I know that already. What's its point, I know it's a threat?' Does it know that it's trapped so it wants to make my death really last? It had no problem killing the rest of its victims quickly and painfully.

"They're all dead because of you." Stated Rose very upset and angered by the talking metal pepper pot.

"They are dead because of us." Said the Dalek as if the two were co-conspirators. That stung at Rose's heart.

"And now what? What're you waiting for?" Asked Rose as angry as she was scared. If she were calmer she probably would be wondering why she was basically saying 'shoot me, shoot me now!', but the fear she was feeling was so great. A quick death was preferable to continuing to be terrorized by this alien, just waiting for it to finally get around to killing her. 'Oh God, I hope it doesn't want to use the plunger on me.' Quivered Rose.

"I feel your fear." Crocked the Dalek. 'Yeah, I know that. Is it trying to get its jollies out of it?' thought Rose. Frustrated, scared and feeling hopeless she shouted back,

"What do you expect? I'm standing here waiting for you to kill me!"

"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear." Screamed the Dalek at Rose and in its frustration and confusion it began to shoot off its weapon on either side of the bulkhead door with Rose frightened in the middle.

"You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated." Shouted the Dalek at the person it now shared DNA with.

Unaware that Rose was not actually dead the Doctor festered in dark, lonely, frightening emotions as Adam entered into the room. The young man looked very winded and nervous from not knowing what kind of reception he would receive from his employer or the Doctor. The Doctor had been stuck on what ironic punishment would be best for Van Statten when he noticed Adam walk into the room. This human had, while he and Rose were at gun point, been charged with watching after Rose and he had failed. Adam had left Rose to die so he could save his own skin. The Doctor looked at Adam as if he was the most disgusting and vile thing he had ever seen. The human's failing also reminded the Doctor of his own failings. The Time Lord was miserable and the Doctor now had an object to vent his frustrations on. The Doctor all but pounced on the young man and stared threateningly into his eyes.

"You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind. Ya cowardly ape!" Hissed the Doctor in contempt of Adam.

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault on his wife!" Adam sneered back, not wanting to have the blame hashed on him. That stung the Doctor a lot. It was his own fault that Rose was dead, and he knew it. He was using Adam as a scapegoat for his guilt. Adam was not to blame for Rose's death, her husband was. He didn't have to close the bulkhead doors, but he had because he had chosen to save the lives of every human on the planet rather than saving Rose's life by risking the Dalek getting out. He had decided without realizing it that every human on the planet, including Van Statten, was worth saving over Rose. Sacrificing his happiness and Rose's for all of humanity. Morally, for the greater good, it was probably the right thing to do, but that didn't make sacrificing Rose hurt any less. And now he was out for blood. The Doctor shivered, Rose had only been dead 5 minutes and 32 seconds and already he was turning back into the monster he had been before. What did he do now? What would Rose think of him? 'Nothing, she's dead!' The Doctor tortured himself with that truth. What was the next step? He wished that someone would tell him. Suddenly the video screen in the center of the room flickered and an image of the Dalek appeared on it and standing, not dead on the floor, was Rose!

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Smith dies." Screamed the Dalek, but the Doctor barely heard the Dalek's voice, he was too focused on the beautiful goddess-like figure standing next to the Dalek. At that moment the Doctor very much wanted to get on his knees and worship her. All the penance and offerings in the world would not be enough homage to such a goddess.

"You're alive!" Exhaled the Doctor in pure joy that Rose was still living. He might have actually been tearing up a bit. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so happy as himself.

"Can't get rid of me." Smiled Rose a little uneasily on the screen. She was relieved to see the Doctor but she was still standing next to an unpredictable metal killamajig as its hostage. The Doctor however was still just happy Rose was alive and choking back tears of joy and in a voice full of repentance uttered,

"I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead and I didn't know what I was going to do, Rose." Rose was going to make a witty but caring remark in response as well as a reminder that she wasn't out of the woods yet but then the Dalek piped up,

"Open the bulkhead!" 'Was the Dalek creating a hostage situation to get out? That was a new idea for a Dalek,' the Doctor thought.

"Don't do it!" begged Rose, she knew what would happen of this thing got out. It would kill more people and Rose couldn't have that on her conscience. She also would not risk the Doctor's life to save hers. She loved him and she literally would rather die then have to see him die. She thought that she was being a little selfish but she had already in a way seen her husband die once and she didn't want to do it again for real this time.

The Doctor was torn, he had another chance to get his Rose back, the universe had granted him a second chance, but doing so meant risking more souls on his conscience. The Dalek was that the Doctor was struggling with these things called emotions. It could tell that two emotions were getting in the way of the Doctor making a decision and what the Dalek wanted. OUT! The Dalek shared a bond with Rose now through the DNA it had absorbed and it knew that Rose loved the Doctor, it could feel it. And the Dalek recognized similar emotions on the Doctor's face. The Doctor without a doubt loved Rose Smith. The Doctor was clearly torn between what was right to do and what love wanted him to do, consequences be damned. The Dalek knew this and that was why it realized finally that it had kept Rose Smith alive. It knew the Doctor did not want to see Rose die, let alone twice. The Time Lord just needed encouragement.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" questioned the Dalek. It was the white elephant in the room and the Dalek had just flat out said it. It was even obvious to the Dalek, the Doctor was in love with Rose, the problem was the Doctor still didn't know what to do with that fact. Despite the situation, Rose's heart quickened when she saw that the Doctor did not deny the Dalek's statement, And there was no way that the Dalek meant platonic love. Rose was amazed that she could still have hope for her relationship while she was still a hostage of a Dalek.

Back in the office the Doctor made his decision, he loved Rose too much to let her die again. He would not be responsible for her death twice, he wouldn't be able to take it.

"I killed her once. I can't do it again." Stated the Doctor. Goddard looked down to the ground resolute, she understood. She just hoped humanity could forgive all of them, and that humanity still had a future after today. The Doctor then stood over his computer keyboard and pressed the 'enter' button and the bulkhead door began to open. The Dalek with Rose leading in front slowly made their way down the hall.

"Your emotion, love. Why do you love when it hurts so much?" Questioned the Dalek, Rose thought for a moment and answered,

"It does hurt, but it would hurt more if I didn't." Rose answered over her shoulder, afraid of provoking the creature too much, but if it asked a question she was sure as hell going to answer.

"Daleks should not have a concept of love, it is too complicated and distracting an emotion." Chirped the Dalek.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Answered Rose sarcastically, her eyes still trained on the Dalek's weapons.

Van Statten watched the Dalek and Rose walk out of the camera range growing ever closer to their current position. He had been quiet until now, still afraid of the rage in the Doctor, but now that the alien had calmed down Van Statten forgot about the Doctor's fury and just saw a stupid looking old man again. His fear of death had kicked in and now he was frantically demanding of anyone or the universe to deliver him from death.

"What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?" The man couldn't believe he was going to die because this cold hard bastard alien in front of him had to go all soft and noble over one stupid expendable human woman. It wasn't like the Doctor couldn't find another human woman wandering about the surface of this planet. The Doctor was unshaken by Van Statten's loud protests and just stood there waiting for his Rose to come to him. They may very well die but at least it would not be his fault that Rose and he were dead. And if he were lucky he might be able to hold Rose like he wanted to before they were exterminated. Adam the whole time was bouncing on his toes trying to decide if he should say something. Oh what the hell what did he have to lose at this point? If he were dead he wouldn't care if he had lost his internship anyway.

"Kill it when it gets here." Suggested the young man.

"Adam, all the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." Explained Goddard, forcefully and exasperated. Adam then raised his eyebrows slightly and declared,

"Only the catalogued ones." Van Statten raised a suspicious eyebrow in kind to this revelation. Adam had been keeping some of Van Statten's toys to himself.

Inside Adams workshop the Doctor moved about the room sifting through all the piles of space junk just taking up space. It was all useless to him. Adam then pointed out a metal basket of items he thought were weapons that he had collected and with very little hope the Doctor began to pull them out and identify them aloud.

"Broken. Broken. Hair-dryer." Groaned the Doctor, it was painful sometimes how humans were so just out of the mud that they couldn't identify such things that were so universally known throughout the galaxy. Not the human's fault but frustrating. Adam ran his hands across his face in worry as he began to realize that all the intimidating looking objects he had gathered were useless. His nerves getting to him, Adam decided to fill the quiet air with an explanation as to why he was keeping these items around the workshop.

"Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day." Explained Adam a bit proud of himself. The Doctor laughed at that concept. He was going to fight his way out with a hair-dryer? Ha, that would have been a funny sight against hundreds of armed guards. The kid was watching too many movies.

"What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that." He declared, seriously it would be hilarious.

"I could do." Barked back Adam affronted. Right, there is a difference between being smart and street smart, all the smarts in the world was no good without experience, a lesson the Doctor had learned throughout his 900 plus years of life.

"What're you going to do, throw your A-Levels at 'em?" he jeered, then the Doctor's eyes lit up as he saw the last item at the bottom of the bin. This was what he needed to save Rose and it was fully functional. He was surprised that Adam had not accidently set it off yet. It was a very large blaster gun that if he was correct, this model was capable of leaving a sizeable hole in a Dalek's armor. He cocked the blaster and gruffly smirked,

"Oh, yes. Lock and load." He was going to kill that murdering monster dead before it could hurt anyone else. And he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

As Rose rode the lift up to the higher levels with the Dalek she couldn't help but notice that the Dalek's gun was just twitching as if it was itching to be put to use. Rose pictured it killing any people it saw and her husband on sight and pleaded,

"I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me." The Dalek felt frustration. It did not understand why it was feeling at all. Or why it seemed to have picked up a companion of sorts or at least a hostage. A hostage had been a useful strategy, but why was it even taking a hostage, Daleks did not need to use living humans to accomplish their ends. Humans were not useful when they were alive for any other reason than target practice. The Dalek looked to Rose and in irritation and confusion asked,

"But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?" 'Heck of a time to be wondering about your place in the world and your identity' thought Rose, but if it kept her alive for the moment then she wasn't going to complain.

The Lift door opened and to the horror of the two remaining humans in the room, the Dalek started to come out of the lift. Rose could see that the two were starting to panic.

"Don't move. Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself." Rose instructed. The Dalek closed in on Van Statten and in a voice that was beginning to sound angry and questioning asked his tormentor,

"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" Van Statten when finding himself asked this question was actually stumped. It was beyond his understanding to understand that his desire to torture the Dalek stemmed from his desire to control it, to make it perform for him like a puppet on strings. The Dalek had defied his will ever since the man had come to possess it and the fact that all his power, money and resources in the world could not buy the alien's will. This fact had infuriated Van Statten enough to try to break the Dalek's will through torture so that it would finally yield to him and acknowledge his unquestionable authority. But that had not happened and now Van Statten in his ignorance and fearing his death at the wrong words could only stammer out,

"I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" Van Statten was now pathetically backed up against the wall and waiting for what he knew would come. Goddard might have been horrified to see what would come next, but she felt no pity for this man who had willingly thrown the lives of so many others in the Dalek's path to save his own skin. It was a fitting punishment and she at least could take comfort that she would be alive long enough to see it.

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" Cried out the Dalek to the terrified man. The Dalek for the first time ever felt the need to kill not just because everything that was not Dalek must die, but because it was angry. Resentful of its tormenter, it wanted Van Statten to die as revenge. What was it becoming? It was about to fire off its weapon when Rose came up alongside it fast. And like an angel on its nonexistent shoulder implored the Dalek,

"Don't do it! Don't kill him! You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?" Goddard watched on as Rose Smith did the unimaginable, tried to reason with the Dalek. Rose was not afraid to walk up to it and talk. She was amazing; she had stopped it from killing! Goddard had thought that she was just a pretty face at first. Arm candy the Doctor kept along for obvious reasons. But after witnessing the bravery of this young woman, it was no wonder that she was the Doctor's wife. Smith? Was that the Doctor's last name too? Goddard was removed from her thought when the Dalek answered Rose Smith. The Dalek felt the core of its being shaken at Rose's words. 'What do I want?' it asked itself. The Dalek thought about being trapped underground in a cage for years and being passed around and sold for the remaining years it had been here since it crash landed 50 years ago. The anguish, frustration and yes maybe fear of being broken and unable to defend itself or even have a say in where it went or did with its life. No one seemed to care if the Dalek wanted to be sold like a chair at auction. Then it realized what it wanted, what it had been pining for all these years and didn't even know it until now. Now that Rose Smith had contaminated it with her time traveling DNA.

"I want freedom." Replied the Dalek slowly as it pondered what it wanted to do next with itself.

The Doctor was running up the stairs carrying the humongous gun he had borrowed from Adam's workshop. Adam had no desire to face the Dalek again and the Doctor had no desire to have to worry about him messing up the works. Adam stayed behind hiding in his workshop and the Doctor was now almost to level 1 of the bunker. Every second counted. If it got out then the whole Earth was in trouble.

'I gotta kill it! I gotta kill it!' the Doctor chanted in his head.

Rose was now traveling with the Dalek down the level one corridor. Much to her confusion the Dalek stopped and trained its gun and eyestalk on the ceiling. It blasted a hole in the roof, and a small bit of sunlight streamed down straight onto its eyepiece.

"You're out. You made it. I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again." Smiled Rose, happy to see the sun and happy for the Dalek to be able to experience freedom as well.

"How does it feel?" Asked the Dalek in an unsteady voice. Much to Rose's amazement the Dalek then opened its metal armor. The middle and dome sections parted to reveal a one-eyed mutant creature within. Rose watched it bathe and take in the sunlight. To her surprise, she didn't view the creature as disgusting at all. Rose thought that she should be disgusted but really she couldn't help but look at it in wonder. The tiny person inside the suit looked so fragile and helpless. Amazing that someone so small could be so deadly. The tiny creature then raised one of its tiny tendrils up to the light. It was a rather peaceful moment actually until they were both startled by the gruff angry voice of the Doctor from behind them.

"Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!" Shouted the Doctor, as he held up his borrowed weapon. Rose looked on at the man in horror and a bit ashamed at what she could see her husband was planning to do. And that's when she realized that at this moment she was afraid of him.

"No. I won't let you do this." Answered Rose resolutely while still in shock. What did he think he was doing? He was threatening two people with a gun! And not just two random people, one of them was his wife. He was saying get away or else. Did he know he was threatening his wife with a gun? Did he even care?

"That thing killed hundreds of people." Shouted and sneered the Doctor trying to justify his actions to the scared looking Rose. With Rose looking at him that way he probably was even trying to justify his actions to himself, he didn't like that look on Rose. She was looking at him like he was some mugger on the street. But this had to be done for the safety of everyone, the Doctor thought. Rose was growing even more scared. She wondered if the Doctor's desire for revenge out weighted any affections he held for her, a stupid little ape. This is why he couldn't be left alone, he needed someone to tell him no or he would try to become a monster. She had to try to snap him out of this and make it clear that he was not allowed to murder this person next to them, no matter what it was. She decided that she was now angrier at the Doctor's actions than scared of them.

"It's not the one pointing the gun at the your wife." Said Rose harshly, 'She doesn't understand, she was just a clueless human who didn't know the full atrocities that the Daleks committed and must be executed for!' The Time Lord thought in frustration. The Doctor remained unwavering he had to make her understand why the Dalek had to die,

"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. My family. I've got nothing left." Choked the Doctor in anger, 'Just get out of the way, out of the way and let me finish this!' thought the Doctor beyond irritation. Rose was saddened by his remark, his pain was obvious. She was also hurt a little by his statement.

"You still have me, I know that's not much compared to a..." Hurting herself with her own statement, that she was starting to view as a weak argument, she decided to interrupt herself and got back on target, saving the Dalek.

"And besides look at it." Declared Rose who then turned to the Dalek. It wasn't doing anything threatening now. It was just sun bathing. You can't just kill something that wasn't posing a threat', she thought. She was still new to the Doctor's world, but she had thought that that was the Doctor's rules he had taught her. He was trying to go against everything he had taught her about interacting with alien life. 'What? Did the rules only apply to her now? She wasn't going to let him break the rules even if she had to have a gaping hole in her to do it. The Doctor turned his gaze back to the Dalek and looked at it confused,

"What's it doing?" he asked, not getting it. Rose smiled meekly and replied,

"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." 'But that can't be, Daleks didn't care if they are in the light or not, can they? No that's ridiculous!' Thought the Doctor to himself and in utter disbelief said,

"But it can't…" Rose saw that the anger and desire for blood was fading from her husband's eyes. It was being replaced by confusion and fear, but he still had his gun trained on her. As long as she stood between him and revenge, whether the Doctor realized it or not, he was threatening his wife with a gun. He was trying to hold true to his aim and be unyielding in what he had to do, but he was so emotional that he was holding the gun like a jittery first-time shoplifter. Was his hatred really worth risking her as collateral?

Rose had to drive the point home that whatever he knew Daleks to be, this one at least was no longer like that.

"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing." Explained Rose. The Doctor was now wrestling with this foreign concept. A Dalek becoming something besides death in a box, 'How could that be?', thought the Doctor. What Rose was suggesting went completely against any and everything he had come to know about his hated enemy.

"What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" asked Rose with a slight hint of disgust at his actions and giving him an icy look he had not yet seen on her before.

The Doctor was struck a bit dumb by the statement and lowered his gun. He stared agape at Rose. What was he doing? How was he any different from the Daleks? He was trying to kill something that wasn't fighting back and he was threatening not just the Dalek but Rose too. He had been pointing a gun at Rose. Rose, the last member of his family that due to some blessing wasn't dead. No, he wouldn't do it he could go through Rose to get at the Dalek and his revenge. He could kill every last Dalek and it wouldn't give him what he wanted back, it wouldn't change anything that already happened. All that would change would be that he would be better at genocide than the Daleks. He wanted to apologize to Rose and to explain himself. He didn't want to see her look at him that way. He wanted to explain how lonely and terrible it was to have to accept that everything you were and knew was gone. He had been doing everything he could do to distract himself from fully grasping that reality but now it was hitting him full force. He had not been able to save his people, and that it wasn't his intention to scare and menace Rose with a gun. Too many thoughts were in his head and all he could get out to explain himself and what he was feeling were a few broken up statements. Rose could feel the regret and anguish in his voice as he mouthed,

"I couldn't. I wasn't. Oh, Rose. They're all dead." When she realized that the gun was not going to come up again, Rose let out a sigh of relief. The Dalek, seeing that the Doctor was no longer a threat asked him a question that he really wanted to know.

"Why do we survive?" Asked the Dalek of the fellow survivor of the time war. The Dalek sounded confused, upset and sad as so many emotions, that it would normally never feel, about the loss and loneliness it was experiencing over the death of its people.

"I don't know." Answered the Doctor simply.

"I am the last of the Daleks." Mourned the Dalek. The Doctor looked at the creature with genuine pity now knowing what had happened to it and how irreversible it was. This situation had been helpful to Rose's continued ability to breathe and for that he was grateful, but what was gain to him was tragedy to the Dalek soldier in front of him.

"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating." Explained the Doctor to the poor creature. The Dalek questioned as to what it was now mutating into, which the Doctor replied sullenly,

"Something new. I'm sorry." Rose looked confused at the two. Was it really so terrible to have human DNA if it helped you be able to feel for others? She didn't understand, why would having emotions and not wanting to kill everything in sight be seen as a bad thing. She asked if it was not better that it was changing into something else.

"Not for a Dalek." Declared the Doctor still in a sad voice. It was then that the Dalek piped up,

"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die." Rose was horrified by what the Dalek was asking of her. She couldn't order something to kill itself. That was horrible!

"I can't do that." She tried to explain, but the Dalek, now more forcefully, retorted,

"This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" She now knew what the Doctor had meant before. It viewed emotions as a sickness or an incurable disease and although she viewed it as a blessing, the Dalek saw it as cancer. She wasn't comfortable with the order of what she was asked to do, but at the same time it was a last request. The Dalek was begging for death and an end to its suffering. She couldn't let it suffer any longer and she couldn't deny a last request.

"Do it." Commanded Rose before she lost her nerve, the Dalek could sense Rose's apprehension and that she was upset. It was new to emotions but it thought that this emotion was fear. Rose Smith was afraid for it, right? It had to confirm its assumption.

"Are you frightened, Rose Smith? Rose answered back that she was and the Dalek, although it had been granted the order to do what it wanted, realized that was also frightened.

"So am I. Exterminate." Said the Dalek before beginning to perform its final extermination on itself. The Dalek shut its eye and Rose sensing that there was danger to be had if she stayed too close, ran away from the Dalek until she was standing safely besides the Doctor. Nervous for the Dalek she watched as its armor closed and the Dalek rose into the air. Curiously the ball shaped objects along the side of its armor then, spread out around the armor in a dome shape. A force field of some kind was created by the Dalek and then it promptly blew itself up inside the force field. It could have taken out the whole base with that explosion but it had chosen just to hurt itself. The Doctor noted this but then was reminded that Rose was still alive and standing next to him. How could he have done that to her, threaten her with a gun? He felt guilt for his actions, but was too overwhelmed with the fact that Rose was still alive. He practically threw himself into her arms as he cast off the horrible weapon to the floor. He pulled Rose close to him and nearly pulled her off the floor in a crushing hug and breathed in her scent as if he thought he'd never smell it again. Rose hugged back with all the desire of a drowning woman for air. The fact that this was the first hug that the Doctor had ever initiated with her since he changed back into the Doctor did not go unnoticed. She also noted that the hug seemed more than platonic to her. There was no way he could hug her like that if he didn't care for her in some way strongly.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I'm so sorry." Gasped the Doctor in an emotional voice that felt very loaded.

"This is why I can't leave you alone for a minute, you just fall apart. I guess you're stuck with me for your own good." Laughed Rose and the Doctor laughed back, too happy for a stuffy time lord attitude right now.

The Doctor and Rose hugged for a bit longer before letting go. Now that the danger was gone, the Doctor decided that he had seen enough of this bunker and the two made their way down the stairs to the TARDIS. Occasionally the Doctor would steal glances at Rose, staring at her as if he couldn't believe that she was still there and even that she wanted to be there. With him. The Doctor did not however, think that they were completely out of danger. He didn't want to risk giving time to Van Statten to go back to his old ways. Any revenge or punishment he could inflict on the man for what he had done and tried to do was not worth Rose's safety to him. Rose was now moving down the stairs a bit faster than the Doctor and not wanting to leave anything to chance he quickened his pace to stay right by her side. He moved as casually as possible beside her with both hands in his pockets, but one of those hands was clutching at his sonic with a death grip. He was ready to whip it out at any moment to defend Rose from any threat that presented itself. There would however be no such threat to the two of them. Little did the two know that probably much to their pleasure the bunker was getting a change in leadership and a fitting punishment was being handed out.

The TARDIS was now in sight and both the Doctor and Rose let out a sigh of relief. They had been through so much today and it was nice to finally see 'home' again. They could both do with a rest and something to eat. The Doctor walked up to the TARDIS and tenderly ran his hand across the side of the wood panel door. He had done a lot of remembering today about things he had hoped to forget. He was certain that if he were to think about it anymore today he would surely go mad. Instead he looked at the TARDIS and then to Rose and decided to count his blessings instead.

"A little piece of home. Better than nothing." Said the Doctor to Rose. Rose could feel the sadness in his voice and hoped that things were now over and that he could begin the healing process and try to come to terms with the terrible war he survived.

"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Asked Rose for confirmation that the conflict was truly over. The doctor just raised an eyebrow at how pathetic his situation was and sadly but sarcastically replied,

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" Rose once more felt pity for her husband and wanted to try and instill some hope in him. Hope was better than no hope at all and she noted,

"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." The Doctor appreciated Rose's comforting remark but he knew without a doubt that she was wrong.

"I'd know. In here." The Doctor said as he pointed to his head and then sighed,

"Feels like there's no one."

"Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere." Said Rose matter-of-factly, she then held his hand and gave it a gentle and comforting squeeze. The Doctor was still sad but took in a breath of air, calmly exhaled and agreed. The two were in the middle of a lovely moment just staring into each others' eyes when who should come running into the room but Adam carrying a duffle bag. At the sight of the young man the Doctor rolled his eyes and hoped that he didn't want to talk long. The Time Lord wanted Rose and himself out of here already.

"We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed." Explained the young man a bit anxious for them to leave. He had come to warn them before he left the compound having spotted them on the CCTV.

"About time." Said Rose very glad. The young man then looked as if something had dawned on him and disappointed he declared,

"I'll have to go back home." The Doctor, very glad to be rid of what he viewed as an interloping male grinned,

"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours." Rose sympathized with the young man and saw in him similarities that existed in her especially when she first started her adventure with the Doctor. Rose wondered why she and the Doctor couldn't share one of the time and space traveling experiences that she enjoyed with the young man.

"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars." The Doctor fearing what she was getting at decided to play dumb and said in a snarky voice,

"Tell him to go and stand outside, then." He really wanted to get going. He wanted to leave this place behind and get back into the TARDIS with Rose where for a few moments he could keep her safe and away from danger. He wondered if having to deal with young males trying to get at his Rose was inevitable. He did not want another guest in their TARDIS, besides Jack. 'Our TARDIS? So it's our TARDIS now?' The Doctor asked himself as the TARDIS gave the Doctor a mental bump of encouragement. She was all for that line of thinking. The Doctor tried to express annoyance at the TARDIS but was interrupted from his thoughts when Rose started pleading Adam's case again.

"He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help." Rose reminded the Doctor in Adam's defense to come along. The Doctor did not want Adam to travel in the TARDIS with them. Jack and Rose were enough humans in 'his' TARDIS and he wanted Rose to himself, whether it had dawn on him or not.

"He left you down there." Growled the Doctor in Adam's direction, he clearly didn't trust the lad.

"So did you." Retorted Rose, not buying his excuse. He could no more blame Adam then himself for her being essentially left to die. But she didn't hold any bitterness over it. She understood why the Doctor had made his decision and Adam just wanted to live. That was no crime, it wasn't like he pushed her out of the way or anything. Surely if she could not be angry at anyone so could the Doctor. What Rose didn't realize was her statement, meant to be taken more in jest, had hurt the Doctor deeply, and to be reminded by Rose that he had left her to die had hurt a lot more. But he had to make one final argument before relenting to Rose's request. Adam looked back and forth at the two crazy people and interrupting in a loud voice declared,

"What're you talking about? We've got to leave!" The Doctor looked at Adam and then back to Rose and stated,

"Plus, he's a bit pretty." Rose could sense what the Doctor was feeling, a bit jealous, inadequate, and possibly threatened. He was on the defensive with Adam around, and Rose reasoned that 'pretty boys' did not sit well with the Doctor. Wanting to comfort him and make the Time Lord see that he was worrying over nothing, Rose replied while looking into the Doctor's eyes,

"I hadn't noticed." The Doctor just cocked his head to the side and giving in to his technically-still-his-wife warned her,

"On your own head."

The Doctor now having agreed to his wife's request unlocked the TARDIS door and entered the blue box. Adam could not see the inside of the box from where he was standing and was wondering what they were doing inside the tiny box. Well he could have an idea of what they were doing, but this was hardly the time for something like that! They had to leave now!

"What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in." Implored Adam, he didn't understand why they didn't comprehend the severity of the situation. He was even more perplexed when before entering the TARDIS, Rose just looked back and knowingly smiled at him. They were wasting time and trying to keep the conversation civil he called out to the Doctor and Rose and asked a bit awkwardly,

"Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose?" Curiosity getting the best of him, Adam looked into the door of the box and walking in his world changed forever. The TARDIS then dematerialized and was off on its latest adventure.

0000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000

"It's bigger on the inside!" said Adam as he stated the obvious upon walking inside the TARDIS. He observed a huge room that looked organic and alien to anything he had ever seen.

"Oi, raised in a barn, you? Close the door!" Shouted the Doctor and on reflex Adam did just that. He then felt faint and leaned against the railing on the ramp for support. It was a good thing he had for at the moment the Doctor had activated the time rotor and they were off into the vortex. It had not been a smooth jump this time for some reason. Though if one wanted to point fingers they might ask the man flying the ship as to why he did the equivalent of peeling out of the driveway backwards with the TARDIS. Adam then threw up from the shock of being in an alien vessel and from the obvious motion sickness that such a rough jump created for a weak stomach.

"Great start he's off to." Stated the Doctor as he telepathically apologized to the TARDIS and also apologized for then asking her to remove the sick so it wouldn't stink up the room. Rose looked at the Doctor with eyes that scolded, she had wanted to enjoy the fact that she was the expert over someone else for once on the subject of time and space travel, but now she had to play nursemaid.

"You really are aliens!" choked Adam through chunks of half digested food. Rose rubbed the poor young man's back only for him to flinch in fear.

"No, I'm human. I just married an alien." Explained Rose calmly to the shocked man, Adam looked at rose as if to say, 'Oh, is that all?', but the burn of the bile in his mouth seemed to grown him in reality and he became to start breathing normally again.

"Oi, technically from my view, you two are the aliens." Piped up the Doctor, still working the controls, while Rose shot her husband a few daggers with her eyes for his lack of compassion for Adam.

Rose gave up on the Doctor being helpful in this situation and led Adam to the kitchen for a glass of water. The young man shakily followed and as he made to leave the room stared at the amazing collection of technology that made the console in the middle of the room. The Doctor had them now safely floating about the time vortex and decided to follow the two humans to the kitchen. As he entered he saw Rose laughing and rubbing the back of Adam as she tried to help him settle his stomach. The Doctor tried to fight down the sting of jealousy that came up in him at this sight. It was ridiculous, he was an all impressive time lord and Adam was just a human male, it wasn't like he was even remotely competition. And he reminded himself that one of the things he liked about Rose was her caring nature, so of course if someone was suffering she would comfort them if she could. Feigning indifferent he went for a banana on the kitchen counter and took a few bites. He had to get Rose away from Adam for a bit until he could decide what to do with him.

"Rose, I'm sure you're tired, maybe you should go back to the master bedroom and sleep." Suggested the Doctor, he tried to ignore that he as wording it in a way so that Adam might think that they actually shared a bedroom and logically a bed. Fortunately, Rose agreed with him that some rest would be nice.

"But we have to sort out Adam here first, could you see if the TARDIS could find a room for him to lie down, Doctor?" The Doctor didn't like the idea of giving him a room. That felt a bit more permanent than one trip. One human leads to another, he guessed, but at least if he got the human male to bed then he wouldn't have to look at him for a about eight hours. Annoyed he agreed and led Rose and Adam down one of the many corridors in quest for a room for Adam to sleep in. The Doctor reluctantly carried Adams bag for him while Rose helped Adam along. After walking for about a few minutes, Rose explained to Adam,

There are only two other bedrooms on the TARDIS that I know of but the Doctor says that if the TARDIS feels like it, she can make you a room. I'm sure that you will get the very best room that the TARDIS can offer. Finally they came to a very utilitarian looking door. It wasn't exactly warm and inviting looking, but looks could be deceiving. The Doctor opened the door which thankfully opened out because the room inside was quite small. It had comfortable looking furniture, a bed, a small table and chair and a small dresser under the bed. However, the room was and looked like a railway car compartment and was the same size. Adam was a little disappointed that such a large ship had such small rooms. It was smaller than his room that Van Statten had given him, but a beggar could not be a chooser. Still if this was the finest that the TARDIS, as he had learned the ship was called, could offer, then he had to wonder what Rose and the Doctor's room looked like. The Doctor at the sight of the room smiled smugly and pushed a thought towards the TARDIS, 'Finally back on my side, hmm?' The Doctor was very pleased that the TARDIS seemed to hold Adam in the same regard he did. Rose was a bit surprised by the TARDIS's choice for Adam, but since she was still new to the ways and workings of the TARDIS she decided that it might actually be the best that the TARDIS could offer him.

"What do you think? Will it do?" Rose asked her new friend nervously just to be sure that he was okay with his new living accommodations. Even she thought that the room seemed lacking from what she knew the TARDIS could do, but she wasn't going to question the TARDIS. Adam looked over the room against and not wanting to seem ungrateful to his two hosts, nodded and said,

"It's a little snug but I think I can manage." Rose smiled, relieved that he was okay with the room, since he was, after all, a guest in her and the Doctor's home.

"Great, you have a good sleep and we'll be ready for adventure right after." Answered Rose, Adam took a few steps into the room and then asked,

"If I need anything during the night where can I find you two? Where's your room then, if you don't mind me knocking?" Rose began,

"Oh, you can find the Doctor easy enough, he's usually up. We don't share…" But before Rose could finish the Doctor piped up quickly,

"I'll be running maintenance for tonight so I won't be in bed. If you need anything, just come to the console room and I'll take care of it." It did not go past Rose's notice that the Doctor did not want Adam knowing that the two of them didn't sleep together. Rose had not realized it earlier but now that he was here, maybe Adam being around could encourage the Doctor to move in the right direction with their relationship. She just hoped that he would do it because he was realizing that he wanted to and not just because he felt threatened. As far as Rose was concerned the Doctor had nothing to worry about, she was faithful to him, but that didn't mean that she couldn't still have male friends too.

0000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000

The trip to the planetarium was lovely. It was the last showing of the night and the crowd was thin. They had watched a special presentation on the Milky Way stars that was breathtaking. They had also been a ways away from most of the attendees and it felt like they were watching the stars alone in the big domed room, say for the announcer's narrative they felt completely alone. Rose whispered to John that she would love to one day see the stars for real, as city lighting made it hard to see any stars at night. John smiled shyly at Rose as she then ringed her arm around John's arm and snuggled up a bit closer than just leaning against each other's shoulders would have allowed in the theater seats.

"The stars are great in the country up North…maybe one day I could take you up there and show you the stars." Said John meekly. Rose beamed at John and even thought it was dark, John could tell that she was very pleased with the offer.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Answered Rose and she rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in his pleasant scent. Unfortunately, her sweat jacket, that had become her favorite jacket, had ceased to smell like John after she had reluctantly washed it a week later. Now given the opportunity to do so she sought to refresh his scent in her memory and she was in heaven. Liking the contact that Rose had initiated, John in kind gently rested his chin on top of her head. They both let out a relaxed sigh and continued to enjoy the show as they sat their using each other as pillows for their heads. Their contact wasn't a lusty or sexual touch but a touch of two souls who found their lifelong friend and maybe with time, more. When the lights went back on Rose reluctantly got up from her seat and reached out her hand to help up John.

"Oi, I think I'm the one who is supposed to help you up." Smirked John. Rose just smiled back and told him that she was just being a gentlewoman and assisting her date. John laughed at this and insisted to repay such a favor he would get to open the door for her on the car, since it was his car. Rose was a bit confused, she thought that after this she was going to go back to the Estate herself. She wanted John's company and didn't really want to be out of it, but she didn't want to make him go out of his way. It was enough that she had asked him out and all but volunteered his car in the process, since she didn't have one of her own.

"Oh, I thought this was where we were going to part ways? We've already eaten." For a moment John was worried that she had had enough of him for the night, but her cuddling before did not hint at her being disinterested in him. He reasoned that she was trying not to burden him. Rose was only demanding in a way that he was now seeing he liked. In anything else she went out of her way not to be a bother to anyone, and getting to drive her home was not a bother to him. Not a bother at all, it was a privilege and one he wasn't going to give up easily.

John was a gentleman and in gentleman fashion he had not only driven Rose home but escorted her safely to the door to her apartment building. Rose had been holding hands with John the whole time, so it was a surprising loss to John when she let go and spun around to look at him.

"I think that a proper date usually ends with a kiss." Smiled Rose to John. John was now blushing and very flustered and half in a panic answered,

"Kiss… Right, sorry a bit out of practice." He said shakily and then cursed himself for saying such a thing. Great way to lower her expectations, thought John. But then he realized that he didn't know what to do, he had not kissed anyone in so long. And what did she mean by kiss? A kiss on the hand, on the palm, the forehead, or the lips? He didn't know and he didn't want to seem too forward or assume too much and put her off. He decided to go middle of the lane which was safer. Gently he placed his hands on sides of Rose's cheeks and her pulse quickened with anticipation. This was what she had been dreaming about for quite a while now. Then to her surprise he sweetly kissed her on the forehead and after a short moment removed his lips but continued to hold her face softly. Rose was a little miffed, John she could tell was nervous and his kiss was probably the most adorable and insecure actions she'd ever seen out of the man, but he had read her intentions all wrong. She decided that she would give him a break and leave out any guess work. With a heavy breath she looked into his eyes and sighed,

"Try harder, John." She also puckered her lips miming a quick kiss so he would get the idea. Rose smiled when realization finally dawned on the man and he smiled and blushed even more. She watched his face searching for the courage to make the next move and her heart accelerated in anticipation when she knew that he was ready to act. John gulped a breath and then moved in for the kiss. He placed his lips upon Rose's and surprisingly, and to John's relief, instinct kicked in the second his lips made contact. She kissed back and he in kind did the same. Rose was awed by the attention his lips paid hers and even though it was a first kiss, he made her feel unquestionably loved, adored and idolized. He kissed her as a mortal would hope to kiss a goddess. It wasn't an all out snog but they got into it enough. Rose grabbed onto the lapels of his suit jacket and pulled him closer to her, while John had abandoned holding her cheeks to sliding his hands down to her shoulders. The kiss didn't get any more adventurous and their bodies were nowhere close to being flush up against each other, but it was enough to get both of them very excited. As they pulled away when air became a necessity, Rose leaned up against the wall of the building and gasped,

"That was out of practice?" John smirked while leaning up against the wall next to her and heavily panting,

"Well with practice I might learn to take breaks at the right time so we don't both nearly suffocate next time." huffed John. The man couldn't get enough of this lovely creature. She treated and kissed him like a man three times as handsome as he thought he was. How could she not see the same aging and ugly face he saw in the mirror every morning? Clearly she saw something he didn't and as long as she continued to do so, he was content to spend his time in the company of this golden haired goddess.

"So there is going to be a next time, yeah?" Asked Rose cheekily, to which John still shy but with a bit more confidence than usual gasped,

"If you have no objection to it, then neither do I, if we make a habit out of this."

"I'm finding this very habit forming." Smiled back Rose. John drummed up the courage of a man drunk on love and a snogging afterglow and asked Rose,

"How about dinner after work tomorrow? My treat. No going Dutch like this time, yeah? I want to show Lady Rose a night out. Don't worry, nothing too fancy since we'll be in work clothes. I know this great little Italian place that has a nice casual sit down aire to it." Rose was quite flattered and ecstatic that John had asked her out in kind. She couldn't of cared where they went if it was John's idea to ask her out, but judging by how John's face seemed to light up at the mention of the restaurant, she had to be in for a treat. Placing the back of her hand dramatically over her forehead she teasingly gasped out,

"I'm powerless to turn down an offer like that, kind sir." The deal was sealed. More sweet banter followed as the two caught their breath. Finally when Rose's head stopped spinning, she kissed him again on the lips very quickly.

"See you tomorrow, handsome." Giggled Rose happily, and then she ran up the stairs to her mother's flat to try and get some sleep. It wouldn't be easy though her mind was full of so many things. John all but floated back to his car, 'Bessie,' though, much to his annoyance, for some reason he couldn't seem to stop humming the song, "I feel pretty" to himself. 'Ugh, that's not a guy's song. Girls are suppose to sing it!' he chastised himself. But it was just too fitting because Rose had made this man, who thought he was an ugly old git, feel very pretty tonight.

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out to you but I wanted to add just the right amount of fluff to the recipe. As always comments and statements about that you liked are appreciated!


	34. The Long Game - Chapter 34

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

The Long Game - Chapter 34

Rose was once more feeling bold. She had had the most delightful dream last night involving a very romantic kiss and she was looking to recapture a bit of that moment, if she could. She entered the kitchen that morning fully dressed for the day ahead and ready for battle. She was wearing the sexiest outfit that was practical for adventuring with the Doctor and one might say she almost overdid it with the make-up today. But she wanted to make sure that she would catch the Doctor's attentions. The affection that the Doctor had shown her after they had survived the Dalek was proof to her that he held her dearly in his hearts, he loved her in some capacity. Just the fact that he had showed signs of jealousy and protectiveness from another male being near her at least put their relationship on teenaged couple status and that was better than nothing at this point. She's get to the bottom of his feelings yet and she knew just how to do it.

"Morning, honey." smirked Rose as she captured the lips of a surprised Doctor in a quick kiss in front of Adam. She didn't linger long on his lips but she kissed him long enough that she knew if it were just John he would have whimper at the briefness of her kiss.  
The doctor was a bit shocked at Rose's forwardness, even for Rose that forwardness was forward, but for the sake of not giving Adam any hint that the two of them weren't anything but happily married, he smiled goofily and squeaked out,

"Morning Rose."

She then sat down next to the Doctor and melted into his side as they ate breakfast.

Rose had had her moment but now she was seeing that across the table Adam was looking very uncomfortable from Rose's intimate display of affection to the Doctor, and she started to feel guilty. It probably wasn't right that she was making Adam feel uncomfortable by using him as a means to get closer to the Doctor. She knew it was low but still she was desperate for the allowed closeness that she was discovering came along with an audience on the TARDIS of the young male persuasion. Tamping down her guilt she decided she would do one more thing to make the Doctor jealous and then no more. She would also see to it that she would make it up to Adam afterwards, she would treat him as nice as she could for the rest of the day, she swore to herself. Deciding that now was a good time for playing up on her husband's jealousy a bit, Rose got up from the table when they were done eating and walked around to Adam's side. She then gave Adam a friendly peck on the cheek, which did not go unnoticed by the Doctor.

"I'm glad that you feel better. I felt so bad about you throwing up last night." Rose said sincerely and in earnest. Adam smiled his thanks, but was startled when Rose very dramatically swung around and headed toward the kitchen door.

"Now let's go on a new adventure! Come on, Doctor. Let's show Adam something amazing!" Beamed Rose as she led the way to the console room. The Doctor was finding Rose's adventurous attitude contagious and bounced to his feet to follow his technically-still-his-wife.

"I think I got a few ideas." Declared the Doctor as he tailed Rose. Adam not wanting to be left behind in the massive spaceship, dutifully followed wondering just where they were headed next.

The Doctor having caught up with Rose pulled her aside into a dark corridor and gestured for her to be quiet. Rose raised her eyebrow puzzled and watched as Adam looking a bit lost walked past them. When he was out of sight Rose turned her head back to her husband. Rose's heart beat had increased tenfold when she had felt the Doctor's hand around her waist pull her towards his body. She was flustered and nervous for what might happen next and she couldn't believe that she was thinking this, but this wasn't exactly the best time for him to finally decide that he wanted her to himself. Perhaps all the jealousy had done the trick, but she didn't want him thinking that she had the wrong idea about whatever his intentions were, so jokingly she asked with only the smallest hint of heavy breathing,

"A bit odd to be wanting alone time now, yeah? What happens when Adam gets to the console room and we aren't' there?" The Doctor, face pinked a bit when he realized how close they were, took a small step back before clearing his throat.

"Ah don't worry the TARDIS will have him walking for a few minutes, we have plenty of time to get there first." declared the Doctor leaning towards her ear. The Doctor's words had not been dismissive, and they were still alone and he was still very close. Not touching but close enough that she could still smell his intoxicating scent on the air. Rose's mind, daring to hope, was flooding with possibilities as to why the Doctor would finally seek out privacy with her and continue to wish to be alone even after her questioning it. Again she thought that maybe her plan had worked and the Doctor had finally realized that he wanted to be intimate with her in some way now. This idea however was dashed when the Doctor smirked to her,

"I was thinking, how would you like to play a little joke on Adam boy there?" Rose was wondering where this was going and replied,

"I don't know, let's not be mean to him. He's already had enough trouble on the TARDIS. Don't you think hazing is a bit much right now? I mean mine was bad enough as it is, we don't need to throw him in the deep end to see if he can swim." The Doctor had observed all morning and part of last night that Rose was trying to look the seasoned time and space traveler in front of Adam. He may have been jealous but that didn't make him stop observing Rose, if anything it made him watch her closer. Although he secretly didn't like Rose showing off to other men, he did like Adam feeling that Rose was out of his league. So why not devise a scenario where Rose would be happy looking herself the expert and the Doctor would be happy seeing Adam realize that there was a reason Rose traveled with him. He wanted the Doctor and Rose to look like one ultimate unstoppable and inseparable team in front of the new guy.

"We're not going to hurt him and I never go anyplace dangerous… on purpose. Unless I'm trying to save the universe, but that comes with the territory, anyway… This is what we do we two go on ahead to scout out the location first. I'll use my time sense to give you details about the location and then we bring him out and you can pretend that you know exactly where and when we are, hmm?" Explained the Doctor. Rose smiled,

"I like this idea." She very much liked that the Doctor was encouraging a 'partners in crime' behavior between the two of them. Sharing secrets together was a path to being more comfortable around each other after all. Grinning to each other the two then turned the corner and they were right at the console room. The Doctor heard footsteps coming down the metal corridor and gestured for Rose to sit down on the jump seat and look like she had been there a while. The Doctor busied himself with dials on the TARDIS as Adam who thought he was lost finally made in into the console Room. Rose stretched on the seat and The doctor looked up,

"There you are. Thought you had gotten lost, we've been waiting here for a while." Declared The Doctor to a flustered looking Adam. Rose snickered a bit as Adam trying to recover answered,

"No not at all. Sorry I was just taking my time observing your amazing ship is all." Rose giggled some more to herself, imagining the TARDIS having him walk around in circles for a few minutes before finally emptying him out into the console room. This was a harmless enough prank that Rose had no problem with and if the TARDIS wanted to play, well she gets the final say doesn't she?. Adam however did not find it funny and was actually bordering on beginning to panic when he had finally found the console room. He was about to break into a run before he had turned the corner, but now that he had found the console room by just walking a straight line, he felt silly for panicking before. The Doctor had told her to push any button on the console she wanted when he signals so it would look to Adam that she knew how to fly the TARDIS. Walking up to the console with a flourish she flipped a switch and declared with her hand in the air like a conductor of an orchestra,

"Let's go!" she shouted and Adam sat down on the jump seat, not wanting have a repeat of yesterday when he had to hold on to the guard railing for dear life.

"The Doctor then danced about the TARDIS console and gestured now and again discreetly for Rose to help push this button here and that lever there. All the while Adam stared on in amazement that the two seemed to know what they were doing. Rose had never felt closer to the Doctor as, a like minded individual, then at this moment. Being co-conspirators together was almost better than a hug, because she felt totally on the inside with her husband just like they used to be back when he was John. In a surprisingly steady landing the Doctor waved for Rose to head for the door. Adam was getting up to follow but Rose had signaled for him to wait behind while they made sure that the coast was clear.

"Could be dangerous, leave this to the experts first, yeah?" beamed Rose to the young man. Adam mutely obeyed and stood by waiting.

The Tardis had materializes into a little alcove in a room that looked like a large open city block with a small structure standing out in the middle of it. It was quiet and two figures stepping out went unnoticed. As the Doctor and Rose stepped out, Rose shut the door grinning and the Doctor leaned in close to Rose to whisper in her ear. He knew Rose didn't have a clue where she was, but Adam didn't have to know that. Rose reveled in the feel of his breath on her ear but still tried to pay attention.

"So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship. No, wait a minute, space station, and er, go and try that gate over there. Off you go." The Doctor grinned to Rose.

"Two hundred thousand?" asked Rose to confirm the date, to which the Doctor indicated that she was correct. Rose now full of confidence went to open the door to the TARDIS and the Doctor watched on ready to see his Rose be clever as he casually leaned up against the TARDIS. This was Rose's show. Rose opened the TARDIS door and poked her head in.

"Adam? Out you come." Encouraged Rose, seeing that Adam appeared to be a bit apprehensive in leaving the TARDIS even though they gave the all clear. That was a little disappointing, she had practically thrown herself out the doors to see where the Doctor had taken her on the first trip…Well maybe she was a little apprehensive and cautious going through the door. It was a bit like Neil Armstrong taking that first step on the moon, it had to be just right. It was cool that now she could pretend to be the seasoned expert and all Time Lordy and impressive in front of Adam. Adam took a few careful steps outside the TARDIS and then looked around causing him to drop his jaw in surprise.

"Oh, my God." He stated and Rose patting his arm said,

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Adam now done scanning the area with his eyes inquired as to where they were? Rose smirked at this opportunity to appear as expert as her husband and in her best Time Lord, or in this case Time Lady impersonation, she took a deep breath and looking around like she's seen it a thousand times before stated,

"Good question. Let's see. So, er, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand. If you listen …", Rose paused for Adam to hear what she did. Adam confirmed that he heard something, though not sure what. The Doctor just stayed quiet and marveled at how experienced Rose was acting and how she seemed to be mimicking him so well. He guessed that she had spent enough time around him by now to have his speech patterns down. He was even more impressed when he realized that she was also using her ears too to help with the investigation. That was what he had done to determine what kind of structure they were on, he just had not said so.

"Engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here. They could turn the heating down. Tell you what - let's try that gate. Come on!" Adam was indeed amazed by the young woman. She was fearless and knew exactly what to do, wow, could he be like that someday? It was all too much to take in and he was actually finding it difficult to process. Then he realized that Rose was leading them across the room. He caught up and they went through the metal gate to a massive viewing window. Rose was taken aback by the sight of the Earth from space every time in any time. Although now she didn't know what to say that would sound knowledgeable so feigning indifference she said as if she couldn't be bothered,

"Here we go! And this is. I'll let the Doctor describe it. I'm hogging all the fun." Taking his cue the Doctor went into his impressive lecture mode and declared,

"The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, planet Earth at it's height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle." Adam couldn't take in anymore information and promptly fainted. The Doctor, not even bothering to look at Adam rolled his eyes and declared,

"This is why you shouldn't bring home stray humans, Rose."

"Well, you're one to talk. You married a stray human?" Snarked Rose back as she turned to help Adam off the floor.

The Doctor, Rose and Adam were now making their way down floor 135. The Doctor was walking behind the two leading them along as if they were kids he would expect to be distracted by something and fall behind.

"Come on, Adam. Open your mind. You're going to like this. Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners." Explained the Doctor. It was then at that unfortunate moment that a man chose to shoved his way through the side of their group. The Doctor had to quickly pull Rose out of the way and up against himself to avoid the man ramming into them.

"Out of the way!" Said the man quite rudely, not even apologizing for nearly plowing Rose over. The Doctor was very angry and the rude man and under normal circumstance Rose would have been too, but she wasn't going to complain about spending a few seconds flush up against the Doctor. To her this day was just getting better. If that situation wasn't surprising enough, suddenly the three found themselves surrounded by lots of people all busting around while opening up food vending stations. Customers seemed to show up out of nowhere and the vendors began serving scores of noisy customers at their counters. Rose walked up to one of the vendors serving some kind of oily meat products and other things fried. Apparently this vendor sold something called Kronkburgers.

"Fine cuisine?" Asked Rose of the Doctor questioningly, she was beginning to think that her Time Lord was way off this time.

"My watch must be wrong. No, it's fine. It's weird." Said the Doctor checking his watch and looking confused. He wanted to get to the bottom of this time inaccuracy.

"That's what comes of showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was." Smirked Rose in triumph over her husband. The Doctor looked quite miffed, her remark, though she didn't know it, was the Time Lord equivalent of saying that you were lousy in bed last night and declared,

"My history's perfect." Rose still full of herself giggled and said,

"Well, obviously not." Said Rose slyly. Adam was looking about confused, he was expecting to see aliens and he didn't see any at all, just people with weird haircuts.

"They're all human. What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?" asked Adam of the Doctor.

"Good question. Actually, that is a good question. Adam, me old mate, you must be starving." Smiled the Doctor putting his arm around the young man's shoulders. He needed to get rid of the collateral damage risk while he investigated and got to the bottom of this mystery of inaccuracies.

"No, I'm just a bit time sick." Answered Adam, actually his stomach was so in knots right now that food was the last thing on his mind. The Doctor was irritated at the man's uncooperativeness but still smiling said in his most convincing voice,

"No, you just need a bit of grub." Then turning to the nearest vender he asked the mustached man,

"Oi, mate, how much is a kronkburger?"

"Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue." Said the vender with a smile that still managed to sound rude.

"Money. We need money. Let's use a cashpoint." Announced the Doctor as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and walked off to an adjacent wall. The doctor walked up to a 'Credit Five' cashpoint and with a wave of his sonic a plastic device was dispensed and the Doctor handed it over to a confused Adam.  
"There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets." Smiled the Doctor who then tried to walk off but was stopped by Adam asking yet another question.

"How does it work?" Asked Adam mystified by the device.

The Doctor couldn't believe that Rose had told him that his man was supposedly a genius. 'Figure it out already, kid.' Thought the Doctor. Again he wondered why all humans couldn't be as adaptable and clever as Rose. Trying to get Adam to focus on him was like trying to herd cats, the kid was on sensory overload. Perhaps humor would help so that he could settle Adam enough to dump the man off for a few minutes. On his own Adam might get into trouble, so as much as he hated the idea, he was probably going to have to leave Rose to babysit the young human. Though the Doctor was starting to gain confidence that he had nothing to fear as far as competition went with the man. Perhaps he had been needlessly jealous of Adam, not that he would admit being jealous at all.

"Go and find out. Stop nagging me. The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me? Stop asking questions, go and do it." Lectured the Doctor, Rose had been laughing up until he mentioned the kissing part. She gave him a slight dirty look, she didn't like the idea of him kissing strangers though logically he must have kissed people before he met her, but she still didn't have to like it. Overall she was still in a humor-ish mood and was finding Adam's floundering and struggling to process information funny. She knew that they just needed to find him a touchstone modern equivalent to relate to and then he would be fine. Just like she had when she met that plumber on platform one.

"Off you go, then. Your first date...you know how to babysit right?" Smirked the Doctor, obviously no longer worried about leaving Rose alone with Adam.

"You're going to get a smack, you are." Jeered Rose as she went off to help Adam on his exciting journey of ordering food in the future.

Now that the Doctor was alone, it was time to get down to business. He saw some smartly dressed young women and hoped that they were as smart as they were dressed. Walking up to the two he asked,

"Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?" Smiled the Doctor.

"Floor One Three Nine. Could they write it any bigger?" Answered a slightly irritated woman with cornrow hair as she pointing at the floor number in large metal number on the wall.

"Floor one three nine of what?" Asked the Doctor again smiling and trying to let his pleasant attitude be catching.

"Must've been a hell of a party." Answered the woman again in a snarky voice, the last thing she needed right now was to deal with a hung over party man.

"You're on Satellite Five." Smiled the friendlier brown haired woman next to her. To which the Doctor inquired as to what 'Satellite Five was. The irritated woman was not buying the man's cluelessness and replied.

"Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?"

"Look at me. I'm stupid." Answered the Doctor with a humble smile. It was then that it dawned on the friendlier woman,

"Hold on, wait a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?" asked Friendly with an excited look on her face. The Doctor loving that now he had a chance to establish himself as an authority figure and hence easy access to all the information he wanted smirked and said,

"You've got me. Well done. You're too clever for me." He then fished out his psychic paper ID card and flashed it off to the two women.

"We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion." Declared Friendly. The Irritated woman now had changed her song and was ready to be 'helpful woman'.

"Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor five hundred I'll do anything." Beamed the helpful woman. The Doctor asked what happened on Floor five hundred and with a knowing smirk and getting a little closer to the Doctor, like a cat rubbing up against your leg.

"The walls are made of gold. And you should know, Mister Management. So, this is what we do." The helpful woman then went into full lecture mode and walked over to a wall monitor and pointed to various news stories. The Doctor and Friendly then followed.

"Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Bo has just announced he's pregnant."

"I get it. You broadcast the news." Said the Doctor not wanting to waste time on information, he either already knew or didn't need.

"We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere." Explained the helpful woman, wanting to sound her best. Little did the group know that they were being observed by anything but friendly or helpful people.

Adam was sitting at a table in an area that resembled a food court, and he was thanking the universe that he could at least recognize that. He placed his hands on the table, it was real and familiar. He then turned to his food that resembled some form of pasta. He ate a bit with the chopsticks provided with the meal. It wasn't that bad but his stomach was still in too many knots to enjoy it. Rose finally came and sat down next to him. She had been a bit more adventurous with her food and had gone over to another vendor to try the food. Strangely enough she had only come back with what appeared to be a drink. Adam wondered if she was trying to watch her weight, but he didn't have to wonder long.

"Try this. It's called Zaphic. It's nice, it's like a, er, Slush Puppy." Smiled Rose encouraging Adam to relax and partake in the 'food'. Adam looked on with uncertainty in his eyes and sheepishly asked,

"What flavor?" Rose took another sip wanting to make sure she described the food properly and said,

"Sort of beef?" She realized that probably wasn't a good description when Adam cringed in disgust and declared,

"Oh, my God." Rose giggled at his revulsion. Yeah, she did guess a meat flavored food you sucked out of a straw was a gross idea. Rose was finding every new and weird fascinating but Adam however was still going through cultural shock something awful.

"It's like everything's gone, home, family, everything." Lamented Adam. Rose knew just how he felt right now and she knew the cure. And just like the Doctor had to make her feel better about being in the future, where obviously everything you knew and everyone you cared for was gone, produced her super cellular phone out of her pocket and showed it to Adam.

"This helps. The Doctor gave it a bit of a top-up. Who's back home, your mum and dad?" Adam said yes but didn't want to think about them being dead by now.

"Phone them up." Suggested Rose. Adam looked at her a bit incredulously and stated the obvious,

"But that's one hundred and ninety eight thousand years ago." Clearly even if the house and number where still the same, his family was long dead. Was Rose having him on or was she just as daft as the Doctor, maybe there was a reason she was married to him.

"Honestly, try it. Go on." Insisted Rose. Adam finally decided to humor her and took the phone.

"Is there a code for planet Earth?" he jeered, to which Rose just waved her hand and told him to dial. He dialed the phone and amazingly it rang. The number still existed in the future! That was surprising enough but what floored him was when the answering machine answered the call. He heard his mother's recorded voice over the phone,

"I'm sorry we're not in. Please leave a message. Thanks. Bye." The answering machine finished and almost laughing Adam began to leave a message,

"It's er. Hi. It's me. I've sort of gone travelling. I met these people and we've gone travelling together. But, er, I'm fine, and I'll call you later. Love you. Bye." He finished and hanging up the phone said,

That is so…" He was about to give Rose's super phone praise when an alarm sounded off and everyone started to gather their things and leave. Even the vendors closed up shop lickity split, talk about prompt.

"Oi! Mutt and Jeff! Over here!" Shouted the Doctor for his human companions. Grabbing her 'drink' Rose immediately got up and smiling ran over to the Doctor and the group of 'friends' he had collected she was so happy to see him. But as she got closer she could see that he meant business so she threw out her food in the nearest bin. Being a bit absentminded she completely forgot to get her phone back from Adam who held onto it. He got up and realized that he probably should return it but then he thought that something as valuable as this he wanted to keep on hand for a while.

The Time travelers were led into a room called the Newsroom. It was a sterile white walled room with what looked like a dentist chair in the middle with wires coming out of it. Around the chair were seven people seated at an octagonal desk around the dentist chair. Guard railing was in place around the console to provide the people working with room. The Doctor, Rose and Adam stood behind the guard railing and observed as the work session was to begin. The 'Helpful woman' then began to speak quite excitedly and flustered, but trying to hide it.

"Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How do you want it, by the book?" Asked the 'helpful woman' who was looking at the Doctor as if he were her ticket to the top.

"Right from scratch, thanks." Smiled the Doctor, itching to see what was going on around this station. The woman straightened up and in her most professional voice announced,

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot…My name is Cathica Santini Khadeni." Cathica then turned to the Doctor and said,

"That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor five hundred praising me, and please do." The Doctor smiled and Rose looked on amused and wondered if Cathica was going to hyperventilate.

"Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy." Declared Cathica. The friendly girl who had been until up to this moment nodding implicitly then very meekly piped up to correct her,

"Actually, it's the law." Cathica looked miffed at having been corrected in front of a management inspector and with a slight hiss replied,

"Yes, thank you, Suki. Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go." Cathica then settled down into the chair and took a deep breath.

"And engage safety", declared Cathica as the seven people held their hands over palm print on the table in front of them. Lights start to come on around the room and the three time travelers looked about nervously at the sudden change. Cathica clicked her fingers opening a portal in her forehead. Rose and Adam looked on in shocked disgust that they could see Cathica's brain, but continued to watch perversely fascinated. The seven then placed their hands into the palm prints.

"And three, two, and spike." Announced Cathica which caused a beam of light to shine into her portal from the machinery above her head. The Doctor looked on astonished at the display in front of him and with a hint if disgust on his voice declared to his two companions,

"Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."

"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius." Concluded Rose, but the Doctor shook his head and began walking about the room taking as if the people were either not in the room or could not hear him. And in fact they could not, they might as well have been in another room and he replied,

"Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head'd blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets." Rose looked on at the spectacle in front of her confused, and asked the Doctor what were the other seven people around the edge of the system for.

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power." Explained the Doctor. Rose had never seen anything like this technology before, but it still had a major invasive and gross factor. Worried for Adam's sensitive stomach she turn to Adam who was tightly gripping the guard rail.

"I can see her brain." Declared Adam to Rose.

"Do you want to get out?" Asked Rose hoping that Adam wasn't feeling like honking what little food she had managed to get him to eat earlier.

"No. No, this technology, it's amazing." Said Adam who was staring with what Rose now realized was amazement. This was the most excited that she had seen him all day. As for her husband, his mood seemed to move south and she could tell that something was upsetting him. The Doctor crossed his arms and disapprovingly gruffed,

"This technology's wrong". Rose placed her hand on the Doctor's arm and leaning so she could talk quietly and asked,

"Trouble?"

.  
"Oh, yeah." Stated the Doctor with a tone that indicated that an adventure was a foot. Adam however could not understand how a technology this advance could ever be wrong and who was the daft Doctor to judge how humans advanced in the future?

**Author's Notes:** Mutt and Jeff were two tom-foolish Tinhorns in a popular American newspaper comic from 1907 who usually got up to no good. If you are too young to know that, like me who had to look it up, a more modern equivalent probably would be Heckle and Jeckle. If that is still too old for you, well then darn you whippersnappers, go watch some 40s cartoons. As always tell me what you think, I like to know if I'm doing a good job and hence worth the half hour of your life you spend reading this. I don't want you wasting your time, heh.


	35. Ch 35 – Promotion n shattered confidence

Complicated

By The Plot Thinens

Chapter 35 – Promotion and shattered confidence

Everything was going well with the demonstration that was until Suki pulled her hands away like she was getting an electrical shock from the console she was operating. The session was now botched and the other six lifted their hands from their own consoles and the information beam shut down, much to Cathica's displeasure as soon as her head portal closed.

"Come off it, Suki. I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?" Questioned Cathica angrily. The poor girl looked sheepish and quickly apologized,

"Sorry. It must've been a glitch."

"Oh." Said Cathica plainly. The conversation was then interrupted by an overhead announcement and a screen in front of their little group flashing and saying the words, "Promotion". Every muscle in Cathica's body tightened and she could barely breathe. All of her hopes and dreams hinged on these next few seconds and she longed to hear the words that her life as a journalist ached for.

"Come on. This is it. Come on. Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name." Prayed Cathica aloud as she had to fight the urge not to fidget in place where she stood. The announcement was finally made and Cathica's heart sank in disappointment.

"Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor five hundred." The announcement said and as if it was not enough salt in Cathica's wounds, Suki's picture of her making a daft clueless face was displayed across the screen.

"I don't believe it. Floor five hundred." Squeaked Suki excitedly. Cathica's confusion and disappointment boiled over into all out rage, fueled by disappointment and impatience at the illogical nonsense of it all. What did a person have to do to get a promotion around here? She had tried everything!

"How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you." Asked Cathica to the air, astonished at it all. Suki ever polite and positive smiled shyly and answered,

"I don't know. I just applied on the off chance and they've said yes." 'Figures, fools always seem to be lucky.' Thought Cathica bitterly, and she then said,

"That's so not fair. I've been applying to Floor five hundred for three years." Why was floor five hundred such a big deal?' thought Rose and she leaned over to her husband and asked,

"What's Floor five hundred?"

"The walls are made of gold." Answered the Doctor incredulously, he obviously thought it was a lot of bull.

Without a moment to spare Suki dropped everything and ran for her quarters to gather her things. The Doctor inquired if Suki was off to floor five hundred now. Cathica bitterly answered that she was going to pack a bag to leave first like everyone else did gong to floor five hundred. The whole process took about a half hour and one small duffle bag later Suki was ready to go. All the while Cathica was complaining to the Doctor about the injustice of it all, obviously needing to blow off some steam to someone for quite some time now. When Rose spotted Suki coming up to them, both the Doctor and Rose were amazed at how fast she was packed as if she were expecting this despite the fact of only applying on the off chance. The Doctor also wondered why she needed what appeared to be an overnight bag. Was she going to a sleep over party? Or maybe floor five hundred got better accommodations to live in too. If that was the case then he was amazed by how little she owned. Maybe she was going to have the rest of her affects moved later. The group moved to the lift all the while the Doctor still suspicious, kept an eye on everything about while looking for anything out of place with the whole situation.

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you." Smiled Suki sadly to her coworker, she then turned to the Doctor and smiled excitedly,

"Floor five hundred, thank you." The Doctor just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't do anything." He smiled. Suki grinned to the Doctor and cheered,

"Well, you're my lucky charm." Suki then stretched out her arms and it was quite obvious that she wanted a hug. The Doctor looked a bit surprised at first but the girl was just too nice and chipper to turn down.

"All right. I'll hug anyone." Grinned the Doctor as he embraced the gleeful woman. And with those words Rose felt an icy chill go through her as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her head at the North Pole. Rose took in a deep breath and felt quite foolish more so than usual. So much for thinking she was special to him, maybe because she never saw him hug anyone else before, some part of her thought that he wouldn't or didn't hug anyone else. Was that why she came to that conclusion that a hug was more than just a hug. That was flat out stupid! She was basing the Doctor's feelings toward her on one hug he actually initiated! Not even a kiss. She was thinking that she must have completely misread the meaning behind the Doctor's seemingly passionate hug back in Utah. It was a life or death situation that they had survived, of course anyone would be emotional after something like that.

Even still in the back of her head Rose couldn't shake the idea that there was something more to that hug, but she was fast burying that idea as childish wishful thinking. Worried about a sever error in judgment, the blond began to run through her head what she knew without a doubt about her relationship with the Doctor. She didn't know the full extent of the Doctor's feelings for her but she knew that he didn't want her dead, he was glad that they met, he was lonely and that he wanted her with him. She knew they were now friends but that one thing, that nagging fact, kept coming up, she didn't know if he loved her the way she wanted to be loved. And as for the protectiveness, well for all she knew he was just as protective of her as he would be any companion traveling with him. As for the Doctor being jealous of her giving attention to another man, well she also remembered being jealous when she was younger when a guest would come to her mum's flat and their cat would give all its attention to the guest and snub her. The words stupid ape started circulating in her head and her appearance that she had put so much effort into this morning made her feel ridiculous. Her make-up now made her feel like a bright faced baboon, a well groomed ape was still an ape to a Time Lord, right? Kissing was probably just as blasé to the Doctor too, if his remarks earlier about Paris were anything to go by. And she was feeling no more special at the moment than some complete stranger in Paris to the Doctor. Wanting to hold onto what was left of her already mostly depleted dignity she decided to focus on a positive act and, as she promised, went over to comfort the ill looking Adam. At least by taking care of someone who was in need of help she could validate her worth for the moment and she was feeling pretty worthless right now. At least someone needed her for something even if it was just to rub their back to help stave off nausea. Rose put on her best smile and trying to cheer up her new friend declared,

"Come on, it's not that bad." Rose couldn't help but notice that Adam was keeping his distance from Cathica, he may have been impressed with what the technology could achieve but it seems he wasn't as keen on the means to achieve it.

"What, with the head thing?" He asked sounding queasy. Rose thought that he was being a little silly, there was nothing to fear now, Cathica looked as normal as any human now.

"Yeah, well, she's closed it now!" She explained trying to help with the young man's nerves. She was trying to be as sensitive as possible to Adam, she knew that time travel was different for everyone. Personally she didn't have any problems she seemed to fall right into the life of a time traveler. She had been more 'go with the flow,' but Mickey had been outright terrified by the TARDIS, so it was impressive enough that Adam had gotten used to being on the TARDIS as much as he had.

"Yeah, but. It's everything. It freaks me out. And I just need to. If I could just cool down. Sort of acclimatize." Explained Adam in a ruminating manner. Rose looked a bit confused and asked what he meant by acclimatize. Adam then smiled up sheepishly at Rose and meekly suggested,

"Maybe I could just go and sit on the observation deck. Would that be all right? Soak it in, you know. Pretend I'm a citizen of the year two hundred thousand." That seemed simple enough, he just wanted to stay in one place without being bustled around for a bit. She had done something similar on Platform one. She had just wanted quiet and soak it in too. If sitting was what he needed then she was all for it. Maybe he wanted some company, she was still interested in the mystery at hand but she had made a promise to be nice to Adam and this time he came first before fun.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Asked Rose of her friend. Rose coming along with him would be a hiccup in his plan thought Adam, he needed to get rid of Rose somehow without her suspecting anything. Adam knew from her displays both verbally and otherwise that she would rather be with the Doctor than him. And quite frankly that was exactly what he wanted right now, to be left alone. He had plans to see what this future could offer him and the last thing he wanted now was a babysitter. Since he had seen the amazing technology available in this future he had to find out how it worked, and if there was a possible way he could apply it to his world in the past. But to do so he didn't need the 'time morality police' on his back while he did it. He knew that the Doctor would protest him bringing this technology back with him since the Doctor thought it was wrong, and knew that Rose would follow suit like a dog. But he didn't feel he needed their permission he knew what was best, he was a genius after all, so he probably could easily learn this technology or at least enough to be profitable to him by the time Rose and The Doctor came looking for him. Borrowing technology from the future wasn't cheating, really. It's just taking a shortcut that could benefit mankind in the past. So he was really doing a great deed for the past that he could also live off of if he played his cards right.

"No, no, you stick with the Doctor. You'd rather be with him. It's going to take a better man than me to get between you two." Said Adam wanting to butter Rose up enough to choose to keep the Doctor company rather than him. Under normal circumstances, well as normal as they came, Rose probably would have been thrilled that someone who was a near stranger had this much confidence in the connection that she and the Doctor had, but now was not the best timing and it kinda felt like a cruel joke. 'Then I guess the Doctor is the better man, since he's the one who's come between the Doctor and Rose.' Thought Rose, feeling quite defeated. But if Adam wanted to be by himself then she wasn't going to force herself on yet another man. Rose nodded in understanding of Adam's request.

"Anyway, I'll be on the deck." Stated Adam. Rose still felt bad about leaving such a tenderfoot time traveler alone. Then she had an idea,

"Here you go. Take the Tardis key. You know, just in case it gets a bit too much." Said Rose, seeing the TARDIS as an unquestionable safe haven that Adam could now escape to if he wanted.

"Yeah, like it's not weird in there." Answered Adam taking the key. Rose was a little irritated with Adam's remark about the TARDIS, but decided to let it drop since it was Adam's first trip.

Rose saw Adam off with a smile and made her way over to the Doctor. It was not her fault that her marriage was in shambles but it was her fault for getting her hopes up. She had set herself up for disappointment and only had herself to blame for reading too much into the social behaviors of an alien, who obviously would not have the same social behaviors as a human. She had to remind herself that just because the Doctor looked human didn't mean he acted like one. Her rules of normal and normal intimacy didn't apply to the Doctor and she had to chalk this up to experience. She had to realize as painful as it was that she most likely would never have a romantic relationship or even encounter with her husband again, and anything that probably resembled intimacy to her as a human probably was just a mistake on her part. If she was hell bent on staying with The Doctor, despite these facts, then she had to come to accept this. Was she finally coming to really understand that? If that was the case, then thank God, maybe she could move on with her life in the TARDIS and stop torturing herself with what would most likely never be. So if she was going to get used to life with the Doctor, a life she had freely chosen, then she was going to have to learn to stop feeling sorry for herself and just accept that if she wanted to be with the Doctor their relationship was never going to be the same as it once was. She could dress up, change herself however she liked, but it wouldn't change who the Doctor was or who she was. For now she could take it, but in the back of her head she still secretly asked herself, 'How many years can I live like that before I break and go crying back to mum?' If it was any comfort, there was one thing she could count on as far as she and the Doctor went, it was that they were best friends. Her feet had finally taken her to the Doctor, she took in a deep breath of air and looked at him determined to try to be all business for an adventure and see how she faired. Maybe it wouldn't be as hard if she could just separate her heart from business. She was going to try and be like the Doctor again, not for Adam this time, but for the Doctor himself.

"Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry." said Suki in a panic as the overhead announcement was encouraging everyone to remember that they needed to get back to work earlier this shift.

"Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!" Shouted the Suki excited as she got on to the elevator lift and waved to her friends who waved in kind. The Door to the lift closed and Cathica in a callous voice said,

"Good riddance." The Doctor looked at the woman in confusion,

"You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs." Declared the Doctor.

"We won't. Once you go to Floor five hundred you never come back." The woman said flippantly walking away. The Doctor and Rose were now both very intrigued and worried. Following the woman the Doctor asked if Cathica had ever actually been up to floor 500.

"I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few." Explained the woman with bitterness. The Doctor was amazed with what this might imply, but before he jumped to conclusions he needed more information. Rose and the Doctor followed Cathica into the Newsroom that just a little while ago, Cathica had been performing the demonstration for the Doctor on how they gathered news.

"Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?" asked Cathica irritated since she only had a few minutes to get the newsroom back in shape before work started again. She was on no mood for questions that she didn't know the answered to or could be bothered with. It was actually making Cathica feel quite inadequate not being able to give an answer and missing a promotion was not doing wonders for her self-esteem either. The Doctor asked the news woman,

"But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?" That just seemed impossible.

The Doctor sat himself down in the 'dentist looking chair', like a king reclined at court and ready for an audience with his people. Rose chose to stand behind the Doctor leaning her weight against the headrest of the broadcast chair. The Time Lord fidgeted a bit, his very keen Time Lord Senses were telling him that something was off. Something was off about Rose of all people, he scrunched his eyebrows and took a quick glance at her. She was watching Cathica like a hawk and ready for action. Nothing out of the ordinary for his very useful companion. Physically nothing seemed amiss, but for some reason although she was standing right behind him, she felt so distant than she usually did. Her pulse was different, brainwaves, hell even her chemistry was off. Right down to the usual hormones and pheromones that she gave off that usually aided in her quick instincts and him finding her in a crowd. Humans and many other species, including Time Lords did not just talk with their mouths, minds and gestures, they also talked whether they knew it or not through their body chemistry. Humans could communicate fear chemically to each other and other species. You can literally smell and taste fear. How many times had her fear spoken to him when he was trying to save her from death? In the past it made him want to rip her from death's arms and destroy whatever had threatened her. But now, it was almost like her familiar chemistry had just given up talking to him and had replaced itself with something different. It wasn't life threatening or anything but, it didn't seem right to him. He would have to see later if anything had led up to this that could eventually become threatening to her. Each human was different and maybe something could be done to make Rose more comfortable, so that she could go back to normal. But later for now, the King and Queen were ready to settle in and listen for a long talk with the woman who seemed to not want to see what was obviously wrong with the world she lived in.

Cathica growing more impatient with her two inspectors and also tired of them asking dumb questions that everyone either already knew or were not worth asking. The man's claim that she had never been to another floor was also ridiculous,

"I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all. You're not management, are you?" Said Cathica who now was beginning to realize that these two weren't who they appeared to be. She certainly didn't want to be dragged down with them, whatever their plans were. The Doctor was simply happy that the woman was finally asking questions and thinking,

"At last. She's clever." Smirked the Doctor still reclining in the chair.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything." Declared Cathica, waving off the trouble as if it were a fly she could swat away. No, no, she was going down the compliant path again, and the Doctor usually had no use for a human who didn't stick their nose into trouble a bit.

"Don't you even ask?" questioned the Doctor of the woman. Cathica tried to focus on maintenance and answered,

"Well, why would I?" The Doctor finding her answer ridiculous inquired,

"You're a journalist. Its' your job to ask questions, even ones you think you don't want the answers to. Why's all the crew human?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Asked Cathica not following the Doctor's line of thought. The Doctor noted that there were no aliens on board and asked Cathica, a journalist, why that was? Cathica actually stopped and thought about it for once, why didn't they have alien coworkers? Or visitors or investors?

"I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything." She said, but that not being a good enough answer the Doctor again asked then where were they? Cathica told the Doctor that she supposed immigration's tightened up thanks to all the threats.

"What threats?" asked the Doctor, the more Cathica thought about it the more she couldn't think of a straight answer and that began to bother her a bit, but she didn't want to feel clueless so she tamped it down.

"I don't know all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see. Just lots of little reasons, that's all." Concluded Cathica, it all made sense to her. The Doctor couldn't believe that this journalist was not making the connections that he could easily see.

"Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice." Declared the Doctor leaning forward in his chair a bit. Cathica was now feeling angry at the Doctor and seriously being pushed out of her comfort zone by this complete stranger and she wasn't going to take it. He was accusing her of poor news gathering and making claims about ridiculous conspiracy theories.

"Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything." Said Cathica proudly and with a bit of arrogances. The Time Lord scoffed at Cathica,

"I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology." The Doctor leaned higher up against the chair irritated by the state he was finding the human race in. As he put his shoulders against the headrest he could just feel the tips of Rose's fingers, which were resting on the head support against his jacket. He was trying to ponder what had humanity done wrong to end up so far off course, but the effect that Rose, without knowing it, was having on the Time Lord from her innocent placement of her hand was actually distracting him a bit. Fortunately, Cathica's remark defending the current technology brought him back to reality.

"It's cutting edge" Defended Cathica. 'Cutting edge, ha' thought the Doctor who then with a looked of incredulity retorted,

"It's backward. There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago." Rose done observing wanted answers and leaning closer to the Doctor's big ear asked,

"So, what do you think's going on?" The Doctor now getting a fuller grasp of the situation at hand waved his hand in Cathica's direction and declared,

"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back."

"And how would you know?" Questioned Cathica, who was this man who thought that he had such clairvoyance over humanity? The Doctor, not wanting to go into a lengthy discussion of how he was the ultimate historian and authority on human history stated,

"Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"

"Ninety one years ago." Answered Cathica a bit worried, what the Doctor was implying was big, bigger than anything she had covered before and she was honestly scared at what there was to find if they kept looking. 'And the penny drops', thought the Doctor, he had something to focus on, it was all leading back to this very space station, the answer to the problem was here and he just needed to snoop around until he found it. Well he knew where to go first.

Rose watched on as The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on a pair of metal double doors in what appeared to be a maintenance offshoot corridor. Rose was fascinated by everything the Doctor did and would have enjoyed watching him break into yet another place he wasn't allowed to get into when Cathica nervously hissed,

"We are so going to get in trouble. You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off." The Doctor did not care about being 'told off', but he did care that Cathica was breaking his concentration. Honestly why could all humans instinctually know to clamp up when he was doing delicate work like Rose did. He looked out the corner of his eye and slightly grinned at the sight of Rose trying to absorb every bit of information and knowledge from the Doctor she could. John had liked that about her too, her ability to soak up knowledge that interested her like a sponge…'Oh yeah, John did like how clever Rose was' he remembered that. Anyway back to the problem at hand and Cathica was distracting him. Though he wouldn't admit that Rose leaning this close to him was also grabbing his attention a bit. He decided that he liked Rose related distractions, but not Cathica ones. Still working at the many codes on the lock of the mainframe he absentmindedly asked Rose,

"Rose hon, tell her to button it." 'Crap,' thought the Doctor, 'Another slip, hope Rose didn't catch it. Oh yeah, John used to say that to Rose too.' Contemplated the Doctor. Rose had indeed caught the familiar speech pattern, that was how John would always address her when he wanted something while he was a bit distracted or feeling casual, 'Rose hon, pass me that hammer, please' for example. John had other names for her too. Rose began to hope for things from that sentence alone, but then quickly realized what she was doing and stomped out that flame before it could start to grow again.

The word slip up had actually caused the Time Lord to slip on the lock with his sonic too, but luck would have it that it actually aided him in opening the lock faster, he'd be in just a moment. Laughing to himself as he thought that he'd keep Rose around, even as a distraction she was still a lucky charm.

"You can't just vandalize the place. Someone's going to notice!" warned Cathica, afraid that the two would catch hell and she would go down with them for being involved. Finally the Doctor opened the door to the mainframe very loudly and then let out a triumphal laugh, much to the expense of Cathica's nerves. Inside space aged looking cupboard was a mess of wires and circuits and other bits of futuristic technology that all looked very delicate and quite important. Rose was at a loss but the Doctor knew just what he was doing.

The Doctor was having fun making things go snap, pop and crackle amongst the cluster of wiring and secretly enjoying every time he made Cathica cringe in horror with every wire he cut or made spark. He was testing Cathica's guts so to speak. By now the Doctor and Rose were knee deep in wires and cables that the Doctor was busily dismantling and Rose was tying them up to keep neat and in order. Another loud and bright spark flashed and Cathica frantically turned away from the two crazy people.

"This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work." Declared Cathica losing her nerve and throwing her arms up in the air, but the Doctor was very good at reverse psychology. Manipulating lesser species with mind games was time tot's play and he simply stated,

"Go on, then. See you!" His indifferent put Cathica off as much as it encouraged her to stay and see what he was so sure that he would find. She also was in a spot where she didn't know if it was better to stay and babysit these two or leave them to do whatever and not get involved. Either way she would probably catch hell for it.

"I can't just leave you, can I!?" Declared Cathica doing a dance of uncertainty and pacing trying to decide to stay or go. He ultimately walked back up to the Doctor, her curiosity getting the better of her. The Doctor was fine but Rose was starting to get very warm and wiping some sweat off of her brow and asked Cathica,

"If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?" Rose just could not believe that everyone living and working on this satellite could stand it being so stifling all the time when she was getting over heated just lifting a few cables. God how Rose wished that she could control her body temperature like the Doctor could, he didn't seem to care if it was hot at all. Cathica had heard this complaint a hundred times and nothing could ever be done about it and she didn't have a direct answer as to why it was always so hot here.

"I don't know. We keep asking. Something to do with the turbine." Answered Cathica still feeling like she was being put on the spot to answer an inquisition.

"Something to do with the turbine." Parroted the Doctor in a childish voice, and not even turning around from his task of fiddling with wires. The Doctor indeed did not care if it was hot but for two reasons, one there had to be a reason it was so hot and two the heat was bothering Rose.

'Well, I don't know!" Declared Cathica indignantly, why were these people asking so many questions and who the hell were they?

"Exactly. I give up on you, Cathica. Now, Rose. Look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kind of question." Declared the Doctor giving Rose, the perfect companion, praise.

"I thank you." Answered Rose with as much cheek as the Doctor, she liked it when the Doctor complimented her. He was making her feel very useful and appreciated right now and she would work hard to keep that from going away if she could help it.

Not that he needed to, Rose was brilliant and acting brilliantly anyway, but the Doctor was going a little out of his way to compliment her, but words that would usually illicit a certain chemical, brain wave or mannerism response from Rose was completely different this time. She was acting so platonic, but that what he wanted wasn't it? That was why he pushed her away and kept her at arm's length, right? Was she starting to accept that? A part of him feared that that was what was going on and dreaded such an occurrence happening, but right now his emotion and the problem at hand had his mind so jumbled up that he had to put anything else to the side for the moment. One problem at a time.

"Why is it so hot?" Asked the Doctor of Cathica, trying to concentrate on the present. 'Why did they care so much about the heat,' thought Cathica in frustration. 'Why were they so hung up on that?' she groaned.

"One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!" Stated Cathica very confused these two's concerns and questions were all over the place. Didn't they ever stop asking questions?

"Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important." Announced the Doctor as he accidently disconnected something that looked very important. Sheepishly he looked back at Cathica who just rolled her eyes and head in the most exasperated looked Rose had ever seen on another creature. Cathica's faced then turned to a worried expression and she looked about nervously for the authorities to come and snatch them up. The Doctor ignored what he saw as minor hiccup and began to mend the wires he needed to be attached with his sonic. A few minutes later and some rewiring, the Doctor in triumph produced a video monitor he had hooked up to display schematic readings of Satellite Five.

"Here we go. Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout." Grinned the Doctor, quite proud of himself.

"This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange", Declared Cathica with wonder in her eyes before turning up her lip in confused disappointment and said,

"and you're looking at pipes?"

"But there's something wrong." Pointed out the Doctor. Cathica took a closer look and replied,

"I suppose." Rose was looking at the same schematic as Cathica, but clearly Cathica was getting it and Rose was not, must be too ahead of her time.

"Why, what is it?" Asked Rose genuinely wanting to know the answer.

"The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out channeling massive amounts of heat down." Answered Cathica, looking up at the ceiling. So that was why it was always so damn hot, thought the news woman. But why was that she thought. The Doctor pointed that the heat was coming all the way from the top.

"Floor five hundred." Said Rose stating the obvious.

"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat." The Doctor explained knowingly with his arms crossed as the two women scrutinized the monitor. Rose getting the picture realized that the answer to the mystery was up and that was where they needed to go.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?" Asked Rose a bit flirtatiously but now only joking, she was still abiding by her rule. The Doctor smiled at Rose and flirting back, laughed,

"I know what ya mean, it's just saying 'Why don't ya come up and see me sometime?' Mae West, lovely lady, threw the best parties. Loved to make suggestive jokes at my expense a lot, I got one on her too though, nicknamed a malfunctioning parachute after her." Rose was fully engrossed in what the Doctor was saying when Cathica piped up,

"You can't. You need a key." She couldn't believe that they were humoring just going up to floor 500 for a look around when she, who had been applying for years, had not even been a floor higher than this one. The Doctor did not seem discouraged at all and replied,

"Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here." The Doctor then with a few clicks on a code panel brought up the needed codes.

"Here we go. Override two one five point nine." Said the Doctor and Cathica was amazed to see on the monitor what was so easily grabbed by the Doctor. It couldn't be that easy, the news woman asked why it was giving him the code since it appeared that he had almost done nothing.

"Someone up there likes me." Smiled the Doctor into a surveillance camera overhead, the Doctor knew all this time that he was being monitored. Someone who puts in this much trouble to control every aspect of humanity on this station and possibly the whole human empire would not be careless enough to not have a camera in every corner. Probably had cameras in the bathrooms too. As for whether or not whoever was watching got that the Doctor was on to 'Big Brother' was yet to be know.

The Doctor and Rose walked into the now open lift smiling and without a care in the world. The pair moved as if they were of one mind. Looking back Rose could see Cathica nervously following them about 20 feet behind.

"Come on. Come with us." Encouraged Rose as she waved her hand for Cathica to follow. Very nervous and apprehensive at the brazen rule breaking of the Doctor and Rose and their lack of care for consequences Cathica firmly declared,

"No way!"

"Bye!" Announced the Doctor, waving his hand in a silly manner obviously not saddened by the loss of Cathica.

"Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me." Insisted the woman as she left, washing her hands of the two. The Doctor turned to Rose, his ever faithful companion. Again, why couldn't every human being be like Rose then the human race would be better off.

"That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just you and me." Smiled the Doctor to Rose obviously happy about the outcome. The Doctor and Rose with no one slowing them down. It would be absolute rubbish having to deal with Adam while they were investigating now.

"Yeah." Rose smiled back, not sure of what he thought of that but enchanted by his smile. The smile did not hint at all that he was displeased with the results and she was trying to keep a hold over herself. Just that smile alone could make her forget all the principals she had put in place for her heart's protection, just to kiss that smile right off his face.

"Good." Said the Doctor without a doubt in his voice, he liked it when it was just the two of them any day. Rose was the most intelligent human he knew even more so than Jack he thought traitorously and he'd rather her company when facing a mystery than the company of dozen strangers. The alone time was also preferable, with no one watching he felt he could be more himself with Rose then he could be with anyone else. Something still seemed a bit off about Rose, but she seemed happy enough. For now and a hint of that old chemistry still persisted a bit on the air as she looked back into his eyes, but it was being very suppressed and masked by this new chemistry. For now he was going to have to let it drop. He would miss her body talking to him like it had before but they had a mystery a foot and he needed to concentrate on getting the job done and keeping Rose safe.

"Yep." Grinned Rose. Realizing that he was happy to be spending time alone with her she was feeling much happier herself, perhaps she could make this work this way, friends was working. She should take what he was willing to give and not waste time over what she couldn't have. The Doctor turned to the elevator key pad and placing the code key he had in his hand into the lift operating system, the doors began to close on the lift. The Doctor then laced his hand in Rose's and squeezed tightly. He was off on another adventure with his lovely Rose. 'His?' thought the Doctor, he was just going to let it pass and focus on two things, the task at hand and how nice Rose's warmer human hand felt in his cool palm. Rose too savored the touch of their hands gripped tightly in what Rose knew now was friendship, a part of her that she had hidden and tamped down longed for the hand holding to mean more, but for now it was enough. She decided that she was going to focus on two things, the task at hand and how nice the Doctor's cool hand felt in her warm palm.

**Author's notes:** Uh-oh, looks like the Doctor and Rose are on different wave lengths now. Rose is convinced that they are just friends and the Doctor seems to be warming up a bit more to Rose after almost losing her. How is that going to affect their relationship? Tell me what ya think and hope you enjoyed. I struggled a bit with this chapter, it was going to go one way at fist but it demanded to be told another way, quite unexpectedly.


	36. Ch 36 - Doors in your head and Floor 500

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

Chapter 36 - Doors in your head and Floor 500

The Doctor and Rose continued to hold hands as the lift sped up to the top floor and to the end of this little mystery. When the lift stopped and the doors opened the two were greeted by a dark, cold and foreboding environment. There was even snow and ice on the ground. Rose began to visibly shiver from the cold, starting to miss the heat downstairs. Her thin formfitting outfit she had worn that morning with the purpose of catching the Doctor's eye was not suited for such temperatures and she was wishing she had brought gloves and a hat.

"The walls are not made of gold." Stated the Doctor seeing the obvious danger that this atmosphere emitted. He scanned the room for anything obvious to investigate but then looked back at Rose. The Doctor watched Rose tremble not from fear or excitement but from the cold. Her poor human body had to shiver in order to keep her from freezing to death when his body just acclimated all but instantly to the cold. Shivering always made humans look so helpless, he wanted to wrap her up inside his jacket against him to keep her warm, but if this was a dangerous place then he needed to have full mobility. Also any affection shown towards Rose at this point could be used against him. He didn't want to risk her safety if he could help it. This was no place for Rose, he would have to send her back down and comeback for her later, well if all went well anyway.

"You should go back downstairs." Stated the Doctor. It wasn't an order, but definitely a strong suggestion. Rose was not having any of it and she certainly wasn't leaving her husband-friend person alone up here. She would do her best to watch his back as she knew he would watch hers. Trying to shake off the shivers she stated resolutely,

"Tough." Rose then started to march on ahead of him. The Doctor furrowed his brows as he was realizing that what he couldn't help at the moment was Rose's stubbornness to stay by him. She would not be sent back so he would have to do his best to watch after her instead, still they shouldn't linger long otherwise Rose could start getting hypothermia. Human's were so very fragile after all. The Doctor set out faster to find the source of the heat in this cold wasteland.

It didn't take long at all before the two simply turned a corner and found an extremely blond well dressed man standing behind a group of people at many terminals. He stood watching the monitors ahead with a quizzical look on his face and seemingly unknowing or uncaring that he had visitors. The group of people seemed equally indifferent and continued to quietly work. Apparently the man had spotted the Doctor and Rose because he turned his head slightly and addressed them,

"I started without you. This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?" The man was amazed at these two's ability to not exist and wasn't ashamed to admit it obviously. Rose shivered again and looked at the people working, none of them were even dressed for the cold, weren't they freezing too? Rose then spotted Suki sitting among the much frozen looking people working at the console. They were ignoring everything and seemingly were unaware of what was going on around them. Worried, Rose ran to the pale looking girl who was staring ahead with dead eyes. Rose put her arms on the woman and Suki was cold as death it's self and Rose shook her to try to get Suki's attention.

"Suki. Suki! Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?" Rose cried out to the woman before turning a panicked eye to the icy looking man and demanded to know what the man had done to her. The Doctor looked at the poor woman sitting with her hands at the console and mournfully stated,

"I think she's dead." Rose looked at the woman's face horrified and then down to her arms which were clenched over a similar console that Rose had seen Suki working at earlier.

"She's working." Choked Rose in disbelief, even dead she was still working! It wasn't work until you died around here, it was work until you die and then work some more.

"They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets." Declared the Doctor in disgust at what such technology was doing to humanity even in death. The blond man seemed amused at this statement of the Doctor and declared,

"Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?" The man watched the Doctor trying to scrutinized where to categorize these two nonentities. This was the rarest of the rare occurrences to find not one but two people that did not exist. The man was anything but bored now, maybe a little frustrated that two people could live this long without notice. What efforts had to be devises to create such two people and if there could be two were there anymore? The Doctor nodded his head, he understood the situation another crazy person and he better get while the getting was good or else he'd be risking Rose's safety by staying any longer. He also had a human race to save and that could be done from warmer accommodations.

"It doesn't matter, because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on." Said the Doctor flippantly and turned around to exit. Rose went to follow the Doctor but found herself stopped by a cold icy hand with a death grip on her arm. Rose pulled against the dead woman's strength as horror began to creep into time traveler's veins chilling her more than any cold air could. At the same time the Doctor was finding himself being restrained by two zombie-like men who having left their seats at the console had him pinned to the spot he stood. 'Figured that wasn't going to work', thought the Doctor as the zombies anchored his arms to his back.

"Tell me who you are." Demanded the pasty man as he stared at the Doctor like the enigma he was. The Doctor was certainly not going to give such a person the pleasure of getting to know him better and stated,

"Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I." The Doctor then continued to struggle against the dead men's cold grasps. The Time Lord looked to Rose and saw that she too was in the grasp of the undead as zombie Suki held Rose at bay with a grip of surprising power for such a small woman.

"Well, perhaps my Editor-in-Chief can convince you otherwise." Smiled the Editor in glee knowing what was to come next and waiting very much to see the look of fear and powerlessness wash over these two brazen meddlers' faces.

"And who's that?" Asked the Doctor at his patience end.

"It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." Smirked the icy man with a smile. Oh how he enjoyed being in on the joke and relished his power of distribution of the information he was about to give. A snarl and growl not of this world was heard and the man's attitude changed very quickly from power hungry maniac to groveling coward. He placed his finger to his ear as he appeared to listen for a translation of what said snarls meant. The Doctor assumed that the man had a nano translator build into his ear as the man hurriedly whimpered courteous apologies to the snarling voice and corrected his previous statement,

"It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client." The man then snapped his finger and pointed up to the ceiling. The Doctor and Rose looked up only to see a grotesque giant lumpy thing hanging from the ceiling. It had teeth like a monster's from a nightmare and they were serrated and very hungry looking.

"What is that?" Asked Rose losing all pretense of bravery at the sight of something so horrid. The Doctor in equal horror curled his lip and questioned in disbelief,

"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The well dressed man then explained that that 'thing' on the ceiling was in charge of the human race for almost a hundred years.

"Mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by it's broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe." 'Try saying that ten times fast' thought the Doctor aghast at how mucked up the human situation had become as the crazy man before him grinned that he called that monster by the nickname of 'Max'. Little did the Doctor and Rose know that one of their own group, their own companion that the two had picked up, Adam, was right now landing them all into even more trouble. But while one was seeking knowledge for greed and self gain another was seeking knowledge, without knowing it, for the good of all humanity.

Rose and the Doctor were standing with their wrist turned up toward the ceiling with heavy manacles holding up said wrist in front of them. They were very heavy and if they weren't being held up by a metal bar between them it was a sure bet that they would be even heavier. The two were side by side with his and hers cuffs, that were attached to some very unfriendly looking machinery behind them with wires that fed into the cuffs. The Doctor was very angry, he liked being slapped in manacles about as much as he liked food stuck in his teeth. He also did not like being at someone's mercy. He liked even less that Rose was now in the same danger as he was in. How dare this man chain up Rose like some sort of animal. Though to be honest as far as fashion accessories went Rose rocked manacles much better than he did. All joking aside they were in a lot of trouble. In a moment of bad timing the Doctor actually thought back to the last time he had been in handcuffs. It was under much different and far more pleasant circumstance than now. And those cuffs had been fuzzy, not metal and rough like these ones. A gag gift, from a dirty-minded friend of Rose's named Shareen as a wedding present, which turned out to be more fun than funny that night after their little reception. The Doctor's face reddened a bit as he thought back to that time. Rose had had been in considerably less danger then and in considerably less clothing. And so had he. This was not the time to be suddenly diving into John's favorite memories! The Doctor ran his brain in the other direction and focused on the still monologuing moron in front of him rather than thoughts of the chained blond next to him.

"…Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote." Lectured the icy looking man. Rose was getting it, the whole of humanity were just puppets to this grub like thing hanging down from the ceiling. A perfect cage that the humans didn't even know they were in.

"So all the people on Earth are like, slaves." She asked for clarity. 'Slave' was such a harsh word thought the Editor, he certainly didn't see it as slavery as much as he saw it as coordinated manipulation with a monetary advantage.

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" Asked the man of his two captives. The Doctor answered 'yes' plainly, rolling his eyes at this pasty man who was wasting his time gloating.

"Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?" Asked the man, who referred to himself as the Editor, in mock disappointment. The Editor honestly had had hopes to 'wow' these two some more with how clever and much more interesting he was in comparison to these two mysterious people.

"Yes." Said the Doctor flatly again, he clearly was bored and irritated with the cowardly little man.

"You're no fun." Jeered the Editor, the Doctor and Rose didn't know it but they were both thinking the same thing, that this guy really need to get out more and socialize with people other than dead ones. The isolation probably made him even barmier. He probably loved it when on the odd occasion someone made it up here. It was like he was going out of his way to be all cartoon villainy.

"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am." Threatened the Doctor as he looked to his chained hands.

"Oh, he's tough, isn't he?" Asked the Editor leaning over to Rose. 'Not as tough as me, if you get any closer with your death breath', thought Rose wanting to give one of those eerily blue eyes of the Editor a punch. The Doctor eyes were safe and inviting, promising protection. This Jack Frost wannabe in a suit's eyes just told a story of deception, fear and willingness to dispose of anything that threatened his personal safety.

"But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit." Inquired the Editor so rarely getting a chance to brag about how clever he thought he was for being in on the joke.

"You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed." Shouted Rose, not believing that humanity could be so compliant to not notice a conspiracy so big.

"From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it." Said the man as he balled his fist to crush an imaginary person for effect. The Editor then went on another monologue about how life was just going to carry on as it was for humanity and how humans were all just cattle to begin with, so really the Jagrafess hadn't changed a thing. The Editor was so distracted by his speech that he didn't even notice Cathica behind him hearing every revealing word he said. The Doctor and Rose however, did notice that somehow Cathica had found her way up to floor 500 and maybe there was a chance that she could help them. The Doctor was especially pleased with Cathica, she was thinking for herself and asking questions, and those questions had lead her here and now she was hearing the truth.

"What about you? You're not a Jagrabelly" Asked Rose stumbling over the unfamiliar word. To which the Doctor corrected, 'Jagrafess.'

"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human." Declared Rose, not understanding why this man would backstab his own species in favor of the Jagrafess. The Editor looked at Rose as if she were as dumb as a brick and condescendingly answered,

"Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well." Rose gave the man an appraising glare, he obviously was a 'yes-man' and there was no way that this manicured suit could pull off a conspiracy of this magnitude all on his own. He must have had help.

"But you couldn't have done this all on your own." Declared Rose. The Editor now thinking that the blond hair must go all the way down to her brain replied in a business-like voice,

"No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself." The Doctor looked up at the disgusting creature over head and considered how powerful but vulnerable he was. He was starting to try to work out a plan but he needed more information and for the Editor to not lose interest in talking to them. For the sake of keeping up the conversation the Doctor said,

"No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?" The Editor answered 3,000 years, meaning that the Jagrafess could be in charge of the human race for centuries to come. Still it would need the right conditions and treatment to live that long…

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system." Explained the Doctor, now fully understanding the purpose of the space station. 'Oh this man is clever.' Thought the Editor and wondered what other information this man knew.

"But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?" Asked the Editor very much wanting to know the answer to the two mysteries standing in front of him. He then snapped his fingers and energy surges whipped though the manacles. It was mind numbingly painful and Rose gritted her teeth in an attempt to block it out. She turned her head over to the Doctor who seemed to be recovering better than she was. Hopefully he would be able to get them out of his mess because she was sure at a loss for idea, and having energy surges through your head was not helping her think faster. It was certainly the weirdest feeling she had ever felt under the category of pain. It was as if it tuned into your pain receptors for the express purpose of torture. Almost like an electric shock but not quite, thoughts analyzing the pain just keep circulating in her head and nothing else as she tried to stay standing.

The Doctor as soon as the energy surge was done going through him looked over at Rose who was now breathing heavily and in pain from the surge. It was stinging to him but to a human it had to be excruciating! Rose steadied her footing, looking quite out of it and braced herself for the next surge. The Doctor couldn't take seeing Rose in pain and in such a desperate situation was racking his mind for a way to save Rose. If he could just convince this stupid man that they weren't worth any interest. He'd talked himself out of many life or death situations, surely he could do it again or at least save Rose.

"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering." Bellowed the Doctor sounding desperate. The Editor was not convinces and simply demanded the two again to tell him who they were.

"I just said!" shouted the Doctor in pain from the energy surge that had just shot through his body again. The Editor was losing what little patience he had and demanded,

"Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly …" The Jagrafess growled and the pasty man stopped what he was saying to listen. After a moment the man opened his mouth as wide like a fish at the discovery made.

"Time Lord." Cheered the Editor after listening to the Jagrafess's information for a moment.

"What?" Asked the Doctor, sure he had heard wrong, there was no way this man could know that he was a Time Lord. The Editor finally got it. All the pieces were coming together and he had under his power the most powerful being in the universe.

"Oh, yes. The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine. Oh, with his little human wife from long ago." Mocked the Editor in triumph as he brushed aside the hair over Rose's eye as if she were the time lord's little pet. Rose cringed at the man's cold touch, trying to turn away and The Doctor moved to protect Rose but found himself stopped by his manacles. He didn't know where the Editor was getting his information from, but if he got anymore then the two of them were sunk.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Shouted the Doctor in defense of their secret that was still keeping them alive. The Editor's eyes lit up as Max feed more information into his mind via the chip in his head and declared,

"Time travel." Those were words the Doctor did not want coming out of this man's mouth.

"Someone's been telling you lies." Defended the Doctor, but the icy man just snapped his fingers after saying,

"Young master Adam Mitchell?" Adam then appeared on one of the holo-monitors lying down on the broadcast chair in visible pain. Rose stared agape at the hole in Adam's head and realized that the man must have undergone the same procedure that Cathica had gone through to sport such a door in his head. The Doctor questioning the air in disbelief asked,

"What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything." The Doctor was now reaching the depths of despair and was fast realizing that this situation couldn't get any worse for them. The Editor laughed in victory and simply announced,

"And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T. A. R. D. I. S. Tardis." So what if he knew about the TARDIS it wasn't like the Doctor was going to show them how to use it, they couldn't get into her, and in defiance shouted,

"Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first." The Editor knowing he had the upper hand just grinned and told the Doctor that he could die all he liked, but what did he need a Time Lord for when he had the key to the TARDIS. The two time travelers then watched in horror as the Rose's TARDIS key began to levitate out of Adam's pocket and into the air.

"This is why you don't pick up strays! I know trouble when I see it!" Accused the Doctor as he glared at Rose. All of time and space was in danger because Rose had to bring a pretty boy human along for a ride, thought the Doctor bitterly. Rose could practically taste fear and rage coming off the Doctor. And she couldn't say anything in her defense. She had been the one to insist on bringing Adam onboard the TARDIS in the first place. She had also given Adam the TARDIS key. What a great way to learn a hard lesson about time traveling with someone new to the group. If they lived she'd never hear the end of this. But most likely they were going to die soon, and horribly, and she was disappointed that her own actions, although well meant, had lead to her husband being, as an understatement, 'angry' with her in the end. Even as just a friend she was rubbish and she slumped against the bar attached to her manacles waiting for the 'end of her miserable life already'. She guessed that this was giving up, there was no escape for her or the Doctor now. The Editor was speaking again and Rose was terrified,

"Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing." 'What was the man suicidal as well as crazy?' thought Rose as she listened to the man ramble on. If humanity never develops then chances are he wouldn't even be born! Even she, a stupid ape chav from a council estate, could reason out that!

The Doctor's survival instincts were now kicking in and he was formulating a plan, perhaps Cathica who was still watching could do something, if not to save him than to save humanity and time from these mad beings. He began a speech formulated to speak to Cathica and prayed that she was clever enough to figure something out.

"And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold." Spat the Doctor knowing that if at least Cathica had heard the truth there was still hope for humanity and the universe. The Jagrafess then snarled at his captives and fortunately no one's eyes were on Cathica who then slinked away undetected. As she slipped away Cathica couldn't believe the size of the conspiracy they had stumbled on! She knew she had to do something. Not just to save her two friends, of a sort, but the entire human race from enslavement! Resolute that the lies would now end today she looked to see if a similar room could be found on this floor.

The Editor continued to gloat over his captives when suddenly an alarm at the computer terminal went off. Confused the Editor turned to the screen to investigate not possibly thinking that someone, an employee of all people like Cathica could be not only disconnecting Adam from the information feed, but herself from the safety as well. Allowing her to broadcast unfiltered for once in her life.

"Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?" Asked the Editor in disbelief as he called up a visual on the holo-monitor. The image came on screen and Cathica was now seen sitting on the broadcast chair and spreading information as fast as she could about the truth of humanities situation.

"It's Cathica." Declared Rose amazed. The Doctor looked on to the screen and the image of the human proving a credit to her lethargic species. Ecstatically the Doctor declared,

"And she's thinking. She's using what she knows."

"Terminate her access." Shouted the Editor to his zombie slaves as chaos seemed to erupt on the floor with a sudden environmental shift.

"Everything I told her about Satellite Five. The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that." Said the Doctor excitedly as he motioned to the melting ice all about the, becoming less frigid, room. Gloatingly the Doctor stated the obvious that it was getting hot.

The Editor was only giving limited attention to the Doctor as he tried to do damage control and hissed at Suki's frozen corpse,

"I said, terminate. Burn out her mind." However before any order could be met the consoles exploded and the dead slaves to the system collapsed onto the floor. They would be of no more use to the Editor now as alarms began to sound again but this time throughout all of Satellite Five. People in levels below were in a panic as sparks flew and Adam especially was panicked, not knowing what was going on. He raced for the TARDIS hoping to save his own skin, but was finding pushing through the crowds getting very difficult. He was nowhere near the TARDIS.

Electrical malfunctions were now racing across the space station and as luck would have it managed to short out Rose's manacles, unlocking them. Not needing an invitation she threw off the dreaded restraints. The loud noises and sparks had Rose in a panic but the Doctor was calm, seeing what it was that Cathica was doing in order to save humanity.

"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano." Stated the Doctor smiling. The Editor now was looking up to the ceiling imploring understanding and patience from his employer.

"Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea." Groveled the Editor to his boss. Now very afraid the icy man ran to the seat that Suki's body was occupying and push her aside to use her work station in a desperate attempt to control the already lost situation. The Jagrafess roared and snapped at the Doctor and Rose as the blond woman pulled the Doctor's Sonic device out of his pocket via his instructions.

"What do I do?" Asked Rose in a panicked voice as she tried to free her husband from his shackles. She had seen the Doctor use the Sonic many times but she wasn't sure if she could use it herself. Regardless she was not leaving him behind even if she had to drag the Doctor, shackles and all, out of that frozen room somehow.

"Flick the switch!" Instructed the Doctor to his wife also stressed at the overpowering urge that they should get away from this room very quickly and sooner than later. Rose obeyed his instructions and was now working at the locks like a pro. Now confident that they were both going to escape in time the Doctor then turned his attention to the Editor. The Doctor then explained in a lecturing voice,

"Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!" Rose let out a sigh of relief as she finally managed to free the Doctor and the two took that moment to 'hightail it' out before the Jagrafess blew. Running quickly to aid Cathica all the couple heard was an eventual sickening meaty explosion off in the distance behind them.

Chucks of ice began to fall from the ceiling thanks to the sudden change in temperature and things were becoming very dangerous. They zig-zagged through the falling ice and it looked like they were past the worst of it. Rose had now gotten a bit more ahead of the Doctor in their run and that was when the Doctor spotted it. A huge icicle was falling right over where Rose was going to be in 5.5 seconds. Fear and a protective nature fired up into the Doctor and without thinking, he grabbed Rose by her collar and pulled her back toward him into his arms. The Doctor let out a gasp of relief when he saw the icicle fall harmlessly to the floor where Rose would have been. Rose on the other hand let out a gasp at suddenly being this close to the Doctor and from his own initiative. A moment later she noticed why he had pulled her to him, but for that brief moment she was high in the sky in his arms. She then got a hold of herself and stepping away from him said a polite thank you and went into the room that they thought Cathica was in. Rose could not do that to herself again, or she would only be in pain if she made anything else of the Doctor's actions than what they were. Platonic gestures of friendship.

The Doctor and Rose now both in the broadcast room ran to Cathica while dodging more ice, this room was full of falling debris and the Doctor knew he had to get Cathica to safety before chunks of ice from the ceiling fell on her. The Doctor snapped his fingers releasing the reporter from the information feed. Cathica looked up and was rewarded with the largest smile she had ever seen on the Doctor, he was so proud of the brave human. Rose and the Doctor helped her up and the three of them then got the hell off of floor 500.

It was now approaching dawn over the Earth and the people of the space station on level 139 were still trying to make order from the chaos. All about people were cleaning, moving things about and helping the injured down to medical. Everyone was moving with purpose say for a small group of people clearly just sitting together talking. The Doctor leaned forward toward Cathica on the other end of the table and explained in a calm voice,

"We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage." Cathica looked confused, then overwhelmed and then very nervous.

"You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me." Declared the news reporter in a worried voice. Without any doubt in his voice the Doctor replied,

"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal." Well he at least seemed confident enough, thought Cathica, but he wasn't the one sticking around to do clean up. Cathica then lifted her eyes to the nervous man loitering near the TARDIS and asked,

"What about your friend?"

"He's not my friend." Grumbled the Doctor not even looking at the man a few feet away from him or breaking eye contact with Cathica. Rose however looked at the scared man and found herself scared for him, she knew what the Doctor was capable of when angered and didn't want to see what punishment he had in mind for Adam. It was her fault that he was even there, she should be the one being punished not the poor dumb kid she invited along. She was an adult and she would take responsibility for her actions.

"Now, don't…" Said Rose to the Doctor, but he brushed right past her ignoring her. Adam now spotted the Doctor coming near and knew he had messed up royally. He could sense the cloud of anger brewing in the Doctor. He needed to think fast.

"I'm all right now. Much better. And I've got the key." Said Adam, sheepishly holding up the key for the Doctor. He didn't know how much the two had found out about his underhanded deeds which made him nervous. He knew the Doctor knew something about the door in his head and that the event earlier he had a hand in, but that was it. Not wanting to give away more than Adam had to the man announced,

"Look, it's. It all worked out for the best, didn't it? You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge." Perhaps trying to pass off blame to someone else wasn't the man's best strategy and only angered the Doctor more. The Time Lord wanted this man out of his sight and to fix any damage Adam had caused as soon as possible. The Doctor grabbed the man roughly by the collar and dragged him back into the TARDIS with Rose quietly tagging behind. She was very worried about what the Doctor was going to do next to both of them.

Very soon the Doctor, Rose and Adam were landed at their next destination and the Doctor pushed Adam out of the TARDIS.

"It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home! Blimey. I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock." Sighed Adam, happy that he was back in a familiar and safe place.

"Is there something else you want to tell me?" Asked the Doctor, barely having the patience to deal with the dumb ape's crap.

"No. What do you mean?" Asked Adam playing dumb and not wanting to be found out any further. The Doctor then stormed over to the answering machine he saw next to the phone in the house's living room and picked it up.

"The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could've changed the world." Hissed the Doctor to the stupid greedy human. Rose's eyes widened. Until this point she had thought that Adam had just done something as stupid as trying out the futuristic technology on himself. Like how you might get a tattoo abroad on a whim. Granted a tattoo although permanent was not as big a deal as a flipping door in your head, but kids can be stupid. As if she were that much older to call him a kid, but a door in your head wouldn't do you any good in the past where the tech to utilize it isn't available yet. It might as well just be a strange thing to show off at the pub. Now however she realized the extent of how Adam had violated her trust and endangered the future.

Knowing he was caught Adam watched the Doctor then sonic his family's poor defenseless telephone answering machine and it exploded into useless pieces of melted plastic. Having preserved the timelines and saved the universe, yet again the Doctor smiled and said to Adam,

"That's it, then. See you." The Doctor had never so longed for departure or been happier to see a companion go. Not that he really was ever a companion, Adam never even passed his trial run. Adam was confused by the Doctor's words and asked what it was he meant by, 'see you'. The Doctor clarified that this was goodbye and walked to the TARDIS entrance.

"But what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens." Pleaded Adam in an almost whining voice. The Doctor rolled his eyes, so what did Adam want him to do about it? 'You know what I've had it.' Thought the Doctor, then relishing what would come next the Doctor asked patronizingly,

"What, like this?" The Doctor then snapped his fingers together and Adam's forehead opened up. Adam snapped his fingers in response to the Doctor and in an annoyed voice told him not to do that.

"Don't do what?" Asked the Doctor snapping his fingers again and once more opening the man's forehead.

"Stop it!" Shouted Adam losing his cool and closed his head again with another snap.

"All right now, Doctor, that's enough. Stop it." Said Rose, wanting her turn in the argument. The Doctor backed off but he sensed that something was up with Rose. Adam thanked Rose and breathed a little sigh of relief, she must still be on his side. And why not he was smart and good looking. Rose was obviously holding back the Time Lord for his sake. The young man's thoughts were then interrupted when Rose looking quite cross snapped her fingers instead.

"Oi!" complained Adam but Rose laughed and flippantly replied,

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Rose had seen the look of relief and of finding shelter on Adam's face and she was more than please to wipe it off his mug. Rose was pissed off. She felt betrayed by the friend she had stuck her neck out for. She had extended her trust to this person and 'on her head' taken him under her wing against the Doctor's suggestion and Adam had violated her trust. He though that he was so much smarter than her that not only did he not have to listen to her, but Adam thought that he was smart enough to trick her without her ever knowing. And now thanks to this egotist, any trust or confidence that the Doctor had in her or her judgment had been shattered. What an absolute jerk!

Very tired of his head opening feature Adam snapped his fingers and it once more closed. The Doctor glared at the young man and growled,

"The whole of history could have changed because of you." Adam not giving up on salvaging what little creditability and nobility he could appear to have argued,

"I just wanted to help." The Doctor was not fooled by the weak excuse and roared,

"You were helping yourself." The Doctor couldn't stand it. Stupid little apes like him think their tiny brains are so big that they are above the rules of even time and space. How many times in history had he met humans with half that much ego, or understanding of the universe and watched the amount of destruction they could bring about for their own gain? And despite any lives they had destroyed those historic humans had only changed the history of their own planet. This one without even knowing or probably caring had been trying to destroy the whole of history for his own gain. And not only that, he had tried to dup Rose and had taken advantage of her trust. Adam had made the Time Lord say terrible things to Rose while they were under the pressure of the possible universal destruction of time too. 'No that was wrong', thought the Doctor. He couldn't blame Adam for his actions to Rose. Nor blame Rose for being Rose and wanting to see the best in everyone or anyone for that matter. That was one of the reasons why he needed her with him so much. She reminded him of the good still in the universe and that not everyone was out for themselves like Adam. He didn't have to say anything to Rose before, it wasn't like he had not been tricked by someone before. He had trusted the Gelth even thought Rose had advised against it. He had not listened to her and had even tried to make her feel inferior to her. And after all was done and the Gelth were revealed for what they were, she had not rubbed it in his face once. He had when Rose's trusts were proven misplaced and he was a terrible partner for it. Once again he was reminded why he didn't deserve Rose. His mind flashed to the defeated and sad look on Rose's face when he had said those hurtful words to Rose while they were captured. She had just taken his words without argument and that was odd for Rose not to defend herself. 'I must have made her feel like utter rubbish.' Thought the Doctor mournfully. He had to say something, to do something to show Rose that he was sorry for what he did. There had to be some way to make her see that he still held her in the highest regard. The Doctor then noticed that Adam was trying to defend himself again.

"And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this." Declared Adam. 'Oh I bloody well can just leave you like this.' Thought the Doctor with satisfaction.

"Yes I can. 'Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck." Said the Doctor gravely before piping up, in false pleasantries, as he turned to go back into the TARDIS. As a last ditch effort Adam then begged,

"But I want to come with you." The Doctor had his chance to get two birds with one stone. One stone to humble Adam and another to praise his Rose.

"I only take the best. I've got Rose." Announced the Doctor, he then went into the TARDIS leaving the two to settle whatever was left. Rose, however, looked shocked by his statement. It was not what she was expecting. A part of her was even expecting to be left behind too or dumped off next at the Powell Estate with her Mum, not to be praised. Rose felt relief flush over her body. Was the Doctor not mad at her anymore or had he at least forgiven her screw up? She had to make sure. That statement might have just been meant to humble Adam. She looked back at the TARDIS and the door was still open so he wasn't leaving her behind from the looks of it, yet.

Suddenly the front door to the house opened and another voice could be heard. The young man indicated that it was his mother and Rose was just enjoying watching Adam squirm like the worm he was. Adam made a final plead to Rose for her to take him with her, but he didn't deserve to come along nor would she even think to risk bringing him again. Giving Adam a fake goodbye smile Rose turned around and slammed the TARDIS door in Adam's face as he continued calling out to her. Rose now safely in the time and spaceship, it dematerialized and it was once again just the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS.

Rose saw that the Doctor was leaning hard on the Console and there was a certain heavy atmosphere inside the TARDIS. Rose told herself again that she had to make sure that everything was still alright. With wavering courage Rose walked up to the Doctor to have a talk.

"I'm sorry Doctor, it's all my fault, Adam and all that. I'm a liability. If you want me to leave…I…" Apologized Rose in a voice that was barely a whisper. The Doctor looked up at Rose and moved towards her.

"Who said I wanted you to leave? Didn't you hear me, I only take the best and I've got you. I'm sorry if I've made you feel any less today. I've got a bit of a temper on me sometimes, forgive me?" Smiled the Doctor as he places his hand comfortingly under Rose's jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Rose closed her eyes and leaned into his touch and nodded her head. She could fall asleep right here standing up in the console room as long as he kept his hand there. He spoke and Rose opened her eyes as he said in a chipper voice,

"Now you go get your eight hours, we've all had a long day." Rose nodded again and placed her hand over his as it rested on her cheek. She found that she could not help herself after such a tender physical gesture from the Doctor and before pulling away she laid a soft kiss on his palm. Whether that was a friend thing to do or a wife thing to do, she didn't care. It was human and whatever the gesture meant to a Time Lord, was beyond her knowing without actually asking. It felt right and she made her way back to her room to sleep.

Rose was relieved that the Doctor still wanted her to stay, despite all her screw ups she had made in just one day. Rose had clearly not given up on staying with him so it was a good feeling that he wasn't ready to give up on her yet as his companion. The fact that she was here was proof of that. Which was good since Rose was still as determined as ever to stick to her vows. But she was starting to give up on them being together in a sense, well parts of them as a couple anyway. She had not given up on caring for him or his friendship, but she had given up on any hope of a romantic relationship. Time Lords apparently did not do that sort of thing or love like humans did physically or otherwise. She was for the moment content, for a lack of a better word, in what she felt was a loveless, well maybe not loveless. The Doctor clearly loved her as a friend, rather a one-sided marriage in which one was willing to do all that entailed marriage while the other was not. Time was the only thing that would tell her what would happen between the two of them and for now her mindset was the best defense.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooo DW oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooo

"Hello Jack, isn't it a lovely morning?" cheered John to his friend that he knew every day, without fail, was sweeping the halls outside his office at this time every morning.

"You seem happy. What's up, doc?" Asked the janitor slyly as he leaned against his broom stick. Jack figured that John had got a new 'Popular Science' magazine and wanted to share a new discovery or futuristic looking vehicle design with him. '21st century tech magazines were so quant,' thought Jack to himself as he planted his feet for another lecture from John about space travel. That's when Jack got the shock of his life.

"Well, Mister Jack, I just spent a lovely evening last night with the woman of my dreams."  
Much to John's surprise his friend of now a few years appeared to be more shocked or scared than pleased for him. To get rid of the awkward moment John laughed and said,

"Ha ha, I know the shy guy finally opening up and finding a woman right? Well, I always told you that I was waiting for the right one and by God, I've found her! All I can think about is the next time I'll see her. She starts work in an hour and I'm going to be her first customer everyday if I can help it." Jack's mind was racing on all manners of damage control when John started talking again.

"She's smart and funny, so charming. Beautiful and she's all mine. She wants me, Jack! Ugly old git me! She came to me asking for a date yesterday, and it was the greatest night of my life. And she called me handsome. Can you believe it" Crowed John with male pride to his friend.

"Well, actually no Doc, I can't. Are you sure this isn't some chick just trying to leach off your money? I've seen it before." Answered Jack with a worried voice. John looked irritated but the remark was not unreasonable given the situation.

"No worry of that, Jack. I promise you. I appreciated your concern, but Rose Tyler is no leach or gold digger." Smiled John as he leaned back against the wall near his office smitten. Jack knew lovesick when he saw it and had to get the Doc's head screwed back on right before it floated away.

"They never do seem that way at first, John. And wait… Rose Tyler, you mean the shop girl at the campus store?" John let out a happy sigh at the thought of the lively shop that often contained his lady fair and said,

"The very same."

Jack knew Rose. He'd seen her a few times around campus and she seemed to be a nice girl. That was one relief. He knew Rose was not like the conniving or back-stabbing fem fatales that he had known in the past, but Rose was way too young for a 900 year old Time Lord and Jack was sure that the Doctor would have a problem with this if he were in his right mind. He had to try to put a stop to this before someone got hurt.

"But she is way too young for you, Doc, even if she's not a gold digger. What will the higher-ups say if you are seen together? It could be quite scandalous for your career." cautioned Jack, he hated to do this to poor John but, he had to save the Doctor from himself. John was now losing his patience with the naysayer and gruffed out,

"What's so scandalous, about it? She is a full-time employee of this university and so am I. We are coworkers. She's not a student, she is not an intern, or a teacher's assistant. It's perfectly acceptable for us to date. Now like it or not, I am taking that fantastic woman out tonight and I am going to do my very best to sweep her off her lovely feet." John's confidence would probably deflate right after saying this but at the moment he was a man defending his Lady's honor.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo DW oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo

The Doctor awoke under the TARDIS console. He must have nodded off for a little while. 'I swear I either spent too long as a human or my human companion's sleep patterns are rubbing off on me.' Thought the Doctor. After adjusting his neck, which was a bit stiff, he then remembered the dream that he had had and what a pleasant memory it was. He almost wanted to go back to sleep so that he could relive the rest of John's past. Part of him wished he could sleep again to re-watch that date John and Rose had gone on that night. John had been the type of man that Rose deserved and he was starting to wish more and more that he could be even a tenth of that man. 'I have to do something for Rose to make up for what I've done to her.' Thought the Doctor, well that was impossible, he had wronged her in so many ways. But maybe he could do something for her to show her more of what she meant to him. 'But what?!' Asked the Doctor of himself frustrated.

Unknown to the Doctor, in another part of the TARDIS, Rose had in fact had the same dream but her reaction to it was far from pleasant. She was not there to view such a conversation, so it had to be a figment of her love starved and desperate heart. Maybe John had talked about it to her and she had just forgotten, who knew? She sat up in her big lonely bed and grasped at her head with both hands.

"Stop torturing me, John! You're different now, I get it. Just let me forget so I can be with the Doctor part of you at least." Rose shouted at no one. She was reaching a breaking point with her dreams. A year was the probably the longest she could go like this. Especially with her dreams of the past haunting her every night. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. Well that was a lie, she knew what she wanted to feel but whether in the long run that was in her best interest was up in the air. And the man who was suppose to be her partner and husband, would not tell her definitively what he wanted out of them. She wished he'd just flat out say, 'I will never love you as a wife again' and be done with it. Then at least she could plan for the future instead of being stuck living moment by moment in limbo. Still, if the Doctor was given enough time and he didn't give her an answer, then she would ultimately have to make the decision herself. She just hoped that whatever it was that she could live with it for the rest of her life.

"I'm trying John…Doctor, but you're not making it easy for me. And I don't think you want me to be this unhappy… I can give us a bit longer but Doctor if I can't take it, I'm sorry." Whispered Rose under her breath.

Rose was a drift in a sea of 'not knowing what to do next'. She had been around men her whole life and she never came to fully understand them. What was she to do with a Time Lord male then? For some reason Rose felt a longing to have that conversation about boys with the one person she never was able to. Her father. That's when Rose realized that in theory she could actually see her father. She had a time machine. Well the Doctor did anyway and that presented problems. If she were to suggest such a venture, to what extent of interaction could the Doctor allow her to have? She did not know what was making her think of her father all of a sudden, a man she never really knew. Would the Doctor even be willing grant such a request for her?

**Author's notes:** Nobody cares about Adam so I left him out as much as possible and only put him in when he was absolutely needed. Obviously, the Doctor and Rose have even more issues to work out. "Father's day" is going to be a little bit of a turning point for their relationship, I'll leave your imaginations to fill in the blanks you want. Sorry about the delay in updates. I've been really busy with something else for a while now.


	37. Ch 37 Father's Day: A Daughter's love

**Complicated **

by The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 37 – Father's Day: Part I – A Daughter's love**

The Doctor did not go back to sleep that night, he thought that the rest of Rose's sleep cycle would be better spent reading. Looking through his library the Time Lord found an ancient tome to mull over. He then made his way to the console room but not before stopping in the kitchen to set up a few things for breakfast first. He didn't really need to eat everyday but Rose being a human did. The Time Lord then parked himself down for a few hours of reading.

Now if you were to ask her, she probably wouldn't be able to tell you, but somehow Rose managed to get back to sleep and got in a few more hours. Her sleep was not dreamless but this time was full of memories of her family instead of her husband. She dreamt of a time like many when she was small when her mother would sit her down and tell her of her father. Rose woke up from sad but pleasant memories and was resolute to ask this favor of the Doctor while she was still in his good graces. This time she did not dress up but wore casual street clothes for two reasons. One: she didn't want to stand out if they were going back into her personal past, just another face in the crowd. Perhaps out of hopeful thinking that the Doctor would say yes. Two: She figured that it didn't matter how she dressed. The Doctor didn't seem to care or raise an eyebrow, no matter how flashy or unflashy she dressed. So why bother? Rose had not found the Doctor in the kitchen that morning but food had been left out for her. 'That was sweet of him.' Rose thought, not wanting to make too much of it as she quickly drank her tea and had a few bites of toast. To be honest her stomach was in knots and she wasn't that hungry. She just wanted to find the Doctor and get this over with, since she wasn't sure on the answer she would get.

When Rose finally found the Doctor he was sitting on the jump seat reading a book that looked older than old and had a language she could not recognize on it. Sensing her presences the Doctor put down the book and grabbed some bit of the TARDIS off the console and began playing with it. He didn't want it looking too much like he had been waiting up for her, which he was. As casually as possible he looked up to his human companion.

"Morning, Rose." Smiled the Doctor to Rose, but then he saw the shy and serious look on Rose's face and knew that something was up. She wanted to ask something of him, he could tell, but she was obviously scared to do it. When he was John, the Doctor recalled that Rose had never looked this scared to talk to him before, not even when she had confessed that she liked him. Irritated by yet another of the memories of his fake life that just seemed to pop up whenever they liked he directed his attention to Rose and nervously laughed,

"What is it, Rose? I may look like a gargoyle, but I won't bite you." Rose chuckled a little in response and ran her hand along the TARDIS console trying to focus on the feel of it and not on how nervous she was. She then took in a deep breath and began to explain to the Doctor what her mother had told her about her father while looking over an old album of grainy photographs. She repeated it like a mantra.

"Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th of September 1954. I wasn't old enough to remember when he died. That was1987, 7th of November. The day that Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clarke got married. And before that day he was always having adventures. That's what Mum always says. So I was thinking, could we, could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?" Asked Rose in a meek and hesitant voice.

"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" Asked the Doctor a bit confused. Even when he had been John she had never really spoken much to him about her father, beyond that they were married in the same chapel that her parents had been married in and that her father was dead. Any information that he could recall from before had not led him to believe that she significantly missed her father, but he supposed that she probably had to a little. Rose really wanted to do this but the Doctor's hesitant voice was making her fast lose any confidence she had in her right to even ask this of her husband-friend-person.

"All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, just leave it." Replied Rose quickly while she looked off to the side trying to pretend like it was no big deal and that her heart was not hanging on his answer to come. The Doctor was not fooled at all and could clearly tell that Rose wouldn't be asking of him for something this specific or personal if it didn't mean a great deal to her. She was obviously afraid that he was going to say no. Maybe this was the chance that he was looking for to do something for Rose that would prove to her just how much she meant to him, but without having to put it into words what quite frankly failed to describe what she was to him. He figured that he better give her an answer so that she could breathe again because she seemed to be holding it in while waiting for a response.

"No, I can do anything. I'm just more worried about you." Answered the Doctor, and indeed he was worried. No one knew like the Doctor how painful it was to lose or to see old faces left behind. Or to see old faces left behind that you lost. Time travel always made 'goodbyes' a difficult things for Time Lords. The Doctor seemed to have made a habit of taking her through time just to see great losses. Rose had already seen her planet destroyed, would she be able to handle seeing her father alive only to lose him again. And why did she want this now? It seems rather left field, but the Doctor couldn't help but feel that it had something to do with his coldness to Rose and her most likely longing for a comforting male figure in her life again. The Doctor was many things, a teacher, a mentor, a friend, and even a hand to hold, but beyond that… His affections towards her were most likely lacking from what she was used to in the past. Okay, they **were** lacking from what she was used to. In the past, the body he was inhabiting, or at least one that looked just like it on the outside, had been at her every comfort's command. Rose's shaky voice brought him back to reality and he leaned forward in his chair to listen.

"I want to see him." Swallowed Rose trying to sound sure of herself. The Doctor knew that to cross your own timeline was very unwise and if he weren't the only Time Lord left in the universe then there would be penalties and laws against this. But poor Rose, she had endured so much already and he had denied her so much, The Doctor couldn't deny her this too. Against his better judgment he decided to go along with her request. Surely Rose was now seasoned enough at time travel that she would behave herself and as long as he kept an eye on her then she would stay out of trouble.

"Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for." The Doctor warned as he stood up to begin preparations for the trip. Rose took in another deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. He was going to let her do it. She was going to see her father. Fantastic!

It seemed such a strange thing to attend your parents' wedding. Sure nowadays many people do it, but attending your parents' wedding before you were even conceived…now that was strange. Yet here she was with her husband-friend, The Doctor, in the back row, and in the same room that she had been standing being married to the man sitting next to her not very long ago…well relatively speaking according to her timeline. Right now that was years into the future when that would happen. Rose looked down to the Doctor's hands, she wanted to hold his hand very badly right now, but at the moment both his hands were tightly crossed in his lap and he was looking ahead very engrossed in the ceremony. Rose looked ahead deciding it was better not to miss a moment she probably wasn't going to get to see again.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice" Declared the registrar for Peter Tyler to repeat. The man, Peter, was clearly very nervous and sweating as he attempted his part of the ceremony.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne… Suzette Anita…." Sputtered the poor man incorrectly. Jackie on the other hand looked a bit cross at him for forgetting her full name after it had just been spoken and snarked,

"Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di." It was funny what went through your head at the oddest times, out of all the things that she could be thinking about her father she whispered to the Doctor,

"I thought he'd be taller." The Doctor just smirked at Rose's comment; obviously she had built up quite the picture of this man in her head over the years growing up. He wondered if poor Pete could live up to her expectations.

The ceremony went on as planned and the two young people at the front of the room were married. Rose and the Doctor then filed out along with the other guests and made their way back to the TARDIS. The Doctor was pleased that the whole incident had gone off without a problem and even more amused that Rose's father had messed up Jackie's name and how scared Peter had seemed for doing so. The Doctor guessed that when human or Time Lord he had not been the only being afraid of Jackie's wrath. Rose on the other hand should have been satisfied. She had seen both her parents during… well, relatively happier times and asking for anymore would probably seem ungrateful or greedy. Still whatever forces pulled her made her speak up to the Doctor for yet another time,

"Doctor…" said Rose as they entered the TARDIS.

"Hmm?" Asked the Doctor, turning to her as he neared the console.

"My Mum told me that he died so close to home. He died but nobody was there, not Mum, a friend, no one. It was a hit and run driver and they never found out who. He was dead when the ambulance got there… She wished….she wished if only there'd been someone there for him." The Doctor leaned up against the console and Rose looked up pleadingly into his icy blue eyes.

"I want to be that someone, so he doesn't die alone." Declared Rose to the Time Lord and he let out a sigh, to be honest he had seen this coming. Rose seemed dead set on setting herself up to view a tragedy and he found that he was powerless to refuse her. Especially powerless when he looked back into her sad and beseeching hazel eyes, his hearts ached to please her. He tightened his lips rolled his neck to the left, he would do it for her. And if he were honest with himself he'd probably do anything for her.

"November the 7th?" Questioned the Doctor, and Rose answered knowing what he wanted to hear,

"1987." The Doctor pull a few levers and switches and the time rotor stated up.

The TARDIS materialized on a lonely street, called Waterley, between a telephone junction box and a road sign. Behind were the TARDIS landed were park railings making her look like a well placed normal, though disused, police call box. After the time ship had quieted down a familiar 80s tune could be heard playing somewhere on a nearby radio as The Doctor and Rose emerged from the TARDIS. The two found themselves greeted by an area that looked familiar to Rose but still very different and out of place. Concert ads and political propaganda contemporary to the time but so retro to Rose could be seen about on brick walls as if it were brand new, because it was. The young woman looked about and exhaled, it was a very nice day though a bit overcast but nothing special to any other day.

"It's so weird. The day my father died. I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day." Stated Rose aloud. The Doctor understood how Rose felt as he had on more than one occasion been faced with his own past days. Sometimes they weren't always as he remembered or expected them to be either.

"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight. Are you sure about this?" Asked the Doctor again, as he looked to Rose. He wanted to make sure that she had readied herself for what she was about to do. Rose answered the affirmative and they made their way to the infamous Jordon Road where her father had met his untimely end.

The Two stood on a sidewalk that was protected by dividers from traffic and over looked the Powel Estate. Rose with a bit of grim humor on her voice declared,

"This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase." The Doctor could tell that Rose was very upset and he knew that Rose was wishing that she was somehow wrong about the events that would follow. They watched as the green car containing her father made its way up the street and parked just a few feet away from them. Rose had indeed been hoping against hope that he would not come. However, her father may have been late to the wedding but he was on time for his fate. Rose watched in horror knowing what would happen as if she had godlike powers of foresight. With a shaky voice she narrated to the Doctor what she knew too painfully was about to happen.

"He got out of his car" said Rose, "And crossed the road…Oh, God. This is it." She squeaked. The Doctor then without hesitation grabbed Rose's hand with his own and squeezed it tightly trying to give her as much comfort as he could. This would not be easy. He knew Rose had wanted to see this but he wished that she did not have to and wanted to shield her from any pain that he could in light of the circumstances. At least by holding her hand he could let her know that she was not going through this alone, at the moment they were a unit and he would share with her all the strength he had so that she could continue with what she had to do. Now that her father had pulled up to the kerb, he indeed got out of his car as if on cue. And as if also on cue the car that would run down her father came around the corner behind him. Pete closed his car door after removing the vase and did not see the car until it was practically on top of him and by then it was too late. Rose could not bear seeing her father being hit and shielded her eyes behind the Doctor's leather clad back as the car went straight into Pete. The driver shielded his face with his arm as if it would stop the horrible event from happening and ran over the poor man. Horrified at what he had done, the driver continued on leaving Pete and the vase that was in Pete's hand broken in the middle of the road. Barely alive Pete's broken body tried to move before falling still. Rose had lifted her head soon enough to watch her father lying helpless and twitching on the ground, shocked and unbelieving at what she had just witnessed. The Doctor leaned towards Rose's ear and softly and sympathetically announced,

"Go to him, quick." Rose however found that she could not obey the order given to her. Stunned she ran away from the scene. The Doctor followed her.

There had been another time when the two of them had been leaning up against a brick wall together but those had been under happy circumstances and this was most decidedly not a happy circumstance. Rose had stopped running as soon as she had turned the corner and began to break down. Rose was crying and the Doctor was standing there next to her stoically watching Rose's singular heart breaking into millions of possibly irreparable pieces from what she had seen. And he had been the one to bring her here. True she had asked to come but he could not help but feel responsible for providing the means to, yet again, break this poor woman's heart. He hoped that just his presence could provide some comfort to Rose so that again she would know that she was not alone experiencing this horrible event. Sirens began to approach in the distance and rose wiped her eyes and coughed,

"It's too late now. By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead." The Doctor looked at Rose's eyes with pity and a bit of worry he somehow knew what Rose would ask next.

"He can't die on his own. Can I try again?" Asked Rose practically begging. The Doctor was now very worried. This was dangerous territory that Rose was asking them to cross into. It was dangerous enough crossing your own personal timeline once let alone twice and now they would not only be crossing just Rose's timeline but his as well! Curse him for a sentimental fool with Rose that upset in front of him he could not say no and would probably break a hundred rules of time just to make her happy. Still if they were careful enough they could pull it off. It would be risky, okay that was an understatement, it could become a paradoxical catastrophe that could possibly rip the universe in two, but it was do able. If they were very careful and stuck to what semblance of the rules was left. And he was kidding himself if he was going by any rules at all at this point. If the Time Lords were still around he probably would be forced to regenerate twice after this.

Soon the Doctor and Rose found themselves looking round the corner of a brick wall to see their past selves by the kerbside waiting for poor Pete to be plowed down yet again by fate. Rose was so fixed on the event happening in front of her that she did not seem to notice how physically uncomfortable and jumpy her husband looked. He knew this was dangerous, he knew this was foolish and looked about as if something else was going to go wrong at any minute and destroy them all. He was literally risking all of existence for the sake of Rose's happiness. Something in the back of his head told him that was what love was, but he shooed that though away, he had other things to focus on. Like telling Rose exactly how not to get them all erased from existence.

"Right, that's the first you and me. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait till she runs off and he follows, then go to your dad." Instructed the Doctor in a low, nervous, but commanding voice. Rose felt her heart sink as she watched herself watching her father park is car at the kerb and heard her past self talking.

"I can't do this." Breathed Rose with tears in her eyes as she gripped the brick wall they hid behind. The Doctor knew that they had only a small window of opportunity for Rose to do this and she needed to decide now so in a warning voice the Doctor explained to Rose,

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here." Rose was now breathing heavy at the weight that information put on her and a thousand thoughts were circling in her head. She knew what she had to do. She had to preserve the timeline. But at the same time she could do something to save a man who was in her power to save. Could she really just stand there and do nothing to stop a man from dying. She knew that it was wrong and against what the Doctor had told her but as she watched her father get out of that green car and the other car approach, she suddenly did not care anymore and as fast as she could she sprinted out into the street and uncaringly past her and the Doctor's earlier selves.

"Rose! No!" Shouted the Doctor in vain as Rose pushed her father out of the path of the car that would have killed him. The car drove past harmlessly and the vase her father had been holding rolled unbroken on the ground. The earlier versions of the Doctor and Rose looked at each other confused before vanishing from existence.

Rose and Pete lay in the street in a messy heap on top of each other and Rose stared in disbelief at her father who was not dead. He was alive and still breathing! Wow!

"I did it. I saved your life." Said Rose not believing her own words as she continued to stare wide eyed and mouth slacked at the amazing feat she had accomplished. Pete pulled himself up off the street a bit flustered but was getting his wits back quickly and he declared as he pointed at the car that would have hit him,

"Blimey, did you see the speed of it? Did you get his number?"

"I really did it. Oh, my God, look at you. You're alive! That car was going to kill you." Shouted Rose as she pointed in the direction of the car but without taking her eyes off her father. Pete looked scandalized and scoffed,

"Give me some credit, I did see it coming. I wasn't going to walk under it, was I?" Rose laughed a bit to herself at this statement and rather bluntly and without thinking began to introduce herself.

"I'm Rose." She stated excitedly to which Pete smirked and declared,

"That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name." Rose couldn't smile any wider still drunk on adrenaline of her save and smiled,

"That's a great name. Good choice. Well done." Rose continued to smile and stare at the man. It was as if she was meeting a favorite celebratory and she couldn't stop 'geeking out'. Feeling a bit awkward from the silence the man a bit uncomfortably piped up,

"Right, I'd better shift. I've got a wedding to go to." Rose who was all in the know and not wanting yet to let her father out of her sight asked,

"Is that Sarah Clarke's wedding?" Pete seemed surprised again at the coincidence and replied,

"Yeah, are you going?" Rose nodded 'yes' and that was when the bubble Rose had been in popped. Pete pointed behind him and inquired towards the man she was clearly with,

"You and your boyfriend need a lift?" Rose looked behind her and saw that the Doctor was looking quite icy, standoffish and more quietly angry than she had ever seen him before. And not only that he looked as if he were wondering just what he was doing there with her. Rose felt an overpowering dread that she had done something very wrong. If she wanted to save herself from the feeling that the Doctor might disappear any minute and that she had inexcusably disappointed and betrayed the Doctor's trust then she had to focus completely, from this moment, on her father and putting up a wall of denial around herself. The journey back to the Tyler flat was looking to be a very quiet and very uncomfortable trip.

Pete a bit warily opened the door to his flat and let his two guests in. He was no fool and could clearly tell that there was something between his two guests that were bothering them as he placed the vase in the corner table next to the door. Weddings always seemed to put a lot of stress on a couple he thought. All couples, not just the ones getting married. Something was brewing between these two and he was just going to stay out of the way and be the best host that he could. He was in a hurry himself and had to get things moving unless he wanted to be late to said wedding and bring the wrath of his wife down on him. Walking down the hall into his living room he showed the two around and began to speak quickly,

"Right, there we go. Sorry about the mess. If you want a cup of tea, the kitchens just down there, milk's in the fridge. Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt, make a lot of money out of that. Sell it to students and things. I should write that down." Pete realized that he was musing again about nothing and that his two guests, although nodding their heads politely, probably were as time conscious as him about the wedding in a half hour. Rose on the other hand wasn't actually time conscious at all and was staring at her father amazed, hanging on his every word and thinking how clever her father was.

"Anyway, never mind that, excuse me for a minute. Got to go and change." Said Pete as he excused himself and walked into his bedroom to go change into his Sunday best. Now alone Rose looked about her former home and how different it was from how it was in the future. Rose couldn't help but notice that the Doctor was still very silent and had not said two words since she had saved her father. She also couldn't help feeling that he was evaluating her or observing her like he was trying to figure her out. Whatever it was he was doing she hoped that she would past that evaluation. The Doctor leaned up against the door frame that led into the living room and Rose looked about for a distraction. She found it on a little table in a corner.

"All the stuff mum kept. His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink. Here it is, on display. Where it should be." She looked back at the Doctor, still glaring at her and she nervously picked up yet another item for 'show and tell' to the Doctor.

"Third prize at the bowling. First two got to go to Didcot." Rose explained to the still quiet Doctor. Rose even more nervous for him to say something looked to another corner and pointed out some bottles of liquid.

"Health drinks. Tonics, mum used to call them. He made his money selling this Vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs. He was so clever." Again nothing from her husband-friend and she spotted another thing on the table to point out.

"Solar power. Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can." Declared Rose as she proudly showed off her father's accomplishments to the silent man. At this point Rose was trying to trick herself into thinking that the Doctor was angry at her for any other reason than changing the course of time herself, something that she had seen him do on many occasions however he saw fit. So it couldn't have been that big a deal if he did what she had done practically every day. There was something else that he could be irritated about, maybe that was it. She went for the most obvious.

"Okay, look I know you don't like labels, I'll tell him you're not my boyfriend…You can just be my friend if husband is too…" The Doctor had had enough of this human's antics. He had thought he knew her but now was not so sure and he interrupted her sentence. He had been thinking for a while now trying to analyze Rose's actions from the whole day which seemed to planned to him. He had put up with Rose until now as he mulled over the data of what just happened and now he would voice his suspicions.

"When I offered you a chance to come with me I used time travel as a selling point, so you would come with me. I said travel with me in space and then I said time machine. Did you want to come just because I was willing to ask you twice or did what I could offer have a different appeal to you? If I had just said space would you have come or was this all…?"

"You really are daft. Aren't you? I don't think you know a thing about me! Or how I feel about you and quite frankly I don't know how you couldn't! It's not like I keep it all locked away and hidden like you do all the time." Hissed Rose interrupting the Doctor right back. She was now sure that he didn't have a clue as to how she felt about him. Didn't he remember anything about her from his time as John? Was that not enough that he still questioned her love for him? This was a painful topic but onto the matter at hand, her father, which was what this current argument was really about.

"It wasn't some big plan to save him. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it." Explained Rose trying to look justified in her composure. The Doctor just rolled his eyes. Yes he agreed, he didn't think he knew a thing about her, not now after what she just pulled.

"I did it again. I picked another stupid ape. I should've known. Why do I even bother with your species when there are plenty others more evolved? It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you." He growled back just as frustrated with himself as he was with Rose. Why couldn't he find one human that just wanted to see the universe and not want to bend it to their own advantage? And he always brought it on himself, it was like he couldn't help doing it. Rose wasn't going to take this attack sitting down and argued back,

"So it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad." The Doctor thought this a poor excuse and snapped back,

"I know what I'm doing, you don't. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point." How could he make her understand how little she understood about the dangers of time travel? The only reason he could move about with seemingly very little worry and ease was that he usually followed the rules and had said rules drilled into his head from infancy. He also had his time sense so he knew what events had to remain unchanged and what events could be changed a little. He only made it look easy and he worried that his carefree appearance made his human companions take their safety while time traveling with him for granted.

"But he's alive!" argued Rose back, she didn't understand how her father not being dead was a bad thing. The Doctor desperately needed Rose to understand and appreciate what it was she had done wrong. He decided to go down a painful path of memories just to give her a similar comparison. And it was indeed painful to remember how one could possess so much power and still be unable to do anything with it.

"My entire planet died. My whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?" Asked the Doctor of the human woman. If he could just do that he wouldn't be the lonely last of his species, he'd have his family and be complete, but he just couldn't do that. For the sake of preserving the universe and all timelines, he simply could not! The damage he could cause would be too great and too risky. Rose on the other hand was still trying to rationalize and justify her actions to the Doctor,

"But it's not like I've changed history. Not much. I mean he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything." The young woman reasoned. 'Like yelling at a brick wall,' the Time Lord thought in frustration. The Doctor tried again to make Rose understand the damage she had done and declared,

"Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive. Do you even realize how drastically this could change the future? The changes that would make to your own personal timeline alone should be bone dead obvious even to a human! Everything is different because he is still breathing." Rose knew what he was saying but she also understood what it implied and she couldn't believe what the Doctor would rather want.

"What, would you rather him dead?" She accused her husband-friend. Her Father being alive was obviously a problem to the Doctor. The Doctor looked even more frustrated by the difficult situation. Did Rose even realize the spot she was unfairly putting him in? Wondered the Time Lord as he answered,

"I'm not saying that." Rose was also frustrated by what she viewed as the Doctor's apparent lack of empathy toward her father. Everything was boiling over from not only the situation at hand, but also from her anger and aggravation with her relationship with the man who was suppose to be her husband. The man who did everything in his power to confuse her and her feelings since he had changed back to his true self. He had made her feel isolated while at the same time making her feel cared for. Who then would in what seemed like just a few seconds later make her feel neglected and in limbo. The Doctor wanted her near up to a point but refused to commit any further beyond that. He was distant, but at the same time possessive and she never knew what he felt or how she should behave or feel towards him. She felt more like a kept human pet or curiosity than a wife and her emotions now exploded into what she said next in response to his argument over the dangerous effect of saving one man who happened to be the one who should have been the most important man in her life growing up, her father.

"No, I get it! For once, you're not the most important man in my life. And you can't stand it. You just want to keep me to yourself but you don't know what else to do with me, only that you don't want to share me with anyone else! You won't admit it but you can't do without me and you think that I'm lost without you. Well you know what? I was surviving just fine on my own and I was taking care of myself long before you swanned into my life and turned it upside-down! I'm a survivor. I survived 20 years on my own, in not the best of conditions, and I would have survived the 50 or so years more until I dropped dead on my own too. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't sometimes wonder if I would have been better off if…" Shouted Rose but she never got to finish as the Doctor piped up,

"Fine if that's how you feel…Let's see how you get on without me, then. Give me the key." Demanded the Doctor putting out his hand for her key. Rose looked at his open hand in confusion for a moment as to what he meant and then the Doctor continued,

"The TARDIS key. If I'm so insignificant, give it back to me." Rose looked shocked at the implications of what he was demanding, but only for an instant before scoffing back,

"All right then, I will." Rose wasn't scared by the gesture or at least thought that she wasn't at the time as she slapped the key into his palm in a huff. 'He's just trying to scare me and I'm not falling for it,' thought Rose to herself as she watched him pocket the key.

"You've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye, then." Announced the Doctor as he began to leave the flat. 'She just doesn't get it,' thought the Doctor spent by their exchange. Rose couldn't help but run the comparison in her head that he had said the exact same thing to Adam before he went back into the TARDIS and washed his hands clean of him. Probably to convince herself as much as him she cut in front of his path and shouted,

"You don't scare me. I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute, or you'll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me." The Doctor then without saying a word or looking back left the apartment walking out into the open air.

"And I'll make you wait a long time!" Shouted Rose and probably forgetting that she, her current self, did not yet actually live in the apartment slammed the door behind him. Rose now emotionally spent leaned her back heavily against the adjacent wall and exhaled deeply while staring at the floor.

"Boyfriend trouble?" Asked Pete as he poked his head out of his room and looked at the upset blond woman leaning up against his hallway wall. Rose just looked at the floor and wondered what to do next.

**Author's Notes:**

Well this conversation had been a long time coming, don't you think? A little time apart would do this unlikely couple some good at this point…right? Tell me what you think because I was really looking forward to getting to this episode.


	38. Ch 38 - Father's Day: The Break up

**Complicated**

by The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 38 - Father's Day Part II: The Break up**

Despite her belief that she would never regret John,… the Doctor, having come into her life, that didn't mean she still had not thought what her life would have been like without him. It was only human. She still couldn't believe that she had finally said everything that had been on her mind for the last over a week and a half now. But she had bore her whole soul and now… 'He's gone.' She kept thinking now that she was alone with her thoughts. That was what she was afraid of. Although part of her was still holding onto the slight possibility that the Doctor was just sulking as usual. She had to get her mind off of things somehow. She looked about the living room that her younger self would eventually grow up in and thought that the place really was a mess. She decided that doing a little cleaning up might help her get her mind off what could possibly be the official split up of their relationship. It also would help keep her from thinking about the grim reality that was her next move if the Doctor really had meant 'goodbye'.

Rose had moved over to the living room coffee table and was putting peanuts that were spread out on the table back into a bowl that they most likely had originated from. Pete had completed changing into his suit for the wedding and was adjusting his tie as he entered the hall and grabbed the stupid vase that was to be his wedding gift to the couple to be wed. He then walked into the living room to see his all but stranger guest cleaning up his table. This was a very odd thing to him.

"Excuse me, do you mind? What're you tidying up for?" Asked Pete a bit awkwardly but also not trying to sound too rude to his strange guest. Rose's face turned red and she quickly sputtered out an apology when she realized how strange cleaning up a home that wasn't technically her own yet was.

"Sorry. Force of habit." She explained. Pete could see that the woman was clearly upset and his ears had heard at least the end of her conversation with the tall dark haired man as they past his thin door down the hall to his front door. Something like that would probably put any woman on edge. He did wonder what it was about though. With very little information to go on but feeling an overpowering urge to comfort the poor woman he said,

"Listen, don't worry about him. Couples have rows all the time. My wife and I for one are at it like cats and dogs usually once a…"

"We're…ugh it's complicated…" groaned Rose as she sat down on the couch and threw her head back against the cushion. She then continued in a frustrated voice,

"Why does everyone think we're a couple, but 'im?" Rose then found herself after saying that looking slightly down at her ring but not enough that it was noticeable to her father. She turned her head to the side defeated and then sighed,

"... I think he left me." Pete took a look at the woman in front of him and reflected on her not to pretty looking boyfriend. He'd have to be not just an idiot, but a stupid idiot to leave her. Did he really think that at that age he would be landing someone better looking? With a bit of a laugh Pete declared,

"What, a pretty girl like you? If I was going out with you…"

"Stop right there." Commanded Rose to her father quite forcefully. How funny was it that now that she was finally having the longed for conversation about boys with her father, it was not in the direction or context that she wanted at all. She certainly didn't want to hear that her father found her attractive! Eww! Or was that a bit narcissistic on her father's part without him realizing it? Thinking that he might have offended the young woman, Pete tried to explain himself,

"I was just saying…" Rose did not want to think about what he thought about her looks as if she were any other bird on the street. Nor did she want to be forced to think about him thinking about her that way. So she reinforced to him that they were not going there.

"I know what you're saying, and we're not going there. At no point are we going anywhere near there. You aren't even aware that there exists. I don't even want to think about there, and believe me, neither do you. There for you is like, like the Bermuda Triangle." She rambled on as she put her hands up and out as if defending her space from his words.

"Blimey, you know how to flatter a bloke." Said Pete very plainly now having completely given up on any hope of comforting the woman. He didn't think he was that bad looking that getting a compliment from him would be that insulting, after all he landed a woman as pretty as Jackie. This upset blond obviously was quite gone on the man that just left. She didn't even want to hear from anyone else that they found her remotely attractive. Then if she wasn't confusing enough, after being so avid to put up a barrier between herself and him she stood up and put her arm out for him to ring his around hers. 'What is with this woman?' Pete asked himself.

"Right, are we off? " Asked Rose as she continued to offer her arm to Pete.

"So, that wouldn't be a mixed signal at all?" Pete Questioned.

"Absolutely not." Assured Rose back to her father. Pete let out an exasperated breath, ringed his arm with Rose's and led her out of the apartment.

"I'll take you back to the loony bin where you belong. Except I'm sure I've met you somewhere before." Announced Pete, Rose looked at him a bit nervous but calmed down and Pete opened the door and let her out of his flat.

What Pete didn't realize was that now that Rose had steered the conversation away from anything that resembled talking about sexual attraction to a more safer environment, Rose still wanted to get in father/ daughter time with her dad. She had never got to walk arm in arm with her father, not ever. And especially not on her own wedding day months ago…years later…whatever. She just wanted to savor whatever she could grab of anything that was a semblance of fatherly affection from Pete. And why not? Nothing else to do until the doctor was done sulking, yeah? If the doctor was going to go off and after playing the 'stupid ape' card again then she was going to attend the wedding and see if she could attend any party after as well. Let him stew in his blue box while she enjoyed the company of her father.

Back on Waterley Street the Doctor was marching down the pavement in a mood like none he'd ever experienced before and headed straight for the TARDIS. The Doctor was pissed all he had been trying to do was prove to Rose how much she meant to him and she had gone and done this. Right after him having to deal with another human, Adam, pulling the same rubbish for self gain. Well it wasn't exactly the same, his had been profit driven where hers personal. But still she had pulled a dangerous stunt that held the potential to change the whole of history. And now, thanks to that, in true domestic fashion, he was off on a walk to clear his head. Let the stupid ape sweat it out for a bit. She'd probably come crawling to him begging to be let back into the TARDIS once she realized that she all but marooned herself in 1987 with a family that wouldn't come to recognize her for at least 15 years. And maybe he'd let her back in. Or maybe he should just let her hear the TARDIS leave and stay away for a while before coming back or at the least move the TARDIS from the spot she remembered they parked her. That would make her sweat. Or should he just leave and never come back at all and leave all these domestics behind him? His thoughts kept going from reasonable anger, to hurt, to malicious anger and back again as he approached the familiar blue box that was their… his home. The Doctor had now arrived at the TARDIS doors and put his key in the Yale Lock, but before turning it he lifted his head to the sky. Something seemed off about today besides the obvious but he couldn't put his finger on it. Something on the wind… He then unlocked the doors of the TARDIS only to reveal a regular empty police telephone box. The TARDIS interior was noticeably missing as an understatement! He felt about the inside in disbelief and any pretense he had been kidding himself about of washing his hand clean of Rose was immediately discarded for the immature and childish line of thinking it was. Upon the moment his very big mind was able to comprehend the implications of the TARDIS no longer being bigger on the inside. He knew what would come next and he had to find Rose before it was too late and the unthinkable happened to her. Stupid, Time Lord! He should have never left her alone! The Doctor had to find Rose, now!

"Rose!" The Doctor shouted to the air as if it would somehow carry to her and warn her faster. The Doctor then ran for the direction of the church unaware that he was being watched by red eyes from above.

"Make sure you strap in." Cautioned Pete as Rose sat down in his car's passenger's seat. Rose laughed a bit and assured him that she had planned to.

"Never seen you drive before anyway." Smirked Rose. Pete made a slight tight smile and replied,

"Suppose not, sorry. Don't know why I said anything. I'm usually not too up on reminding people. I just saw you sit down and thought to say it is all." Rose smiled that somehow even though he didn't know that she was his daughter that he was still being protective and fatherly to her. She was now even more amazed that she now had the opportunity to even be having such a regular conversation about car safety with her father. Pete started the engine and the two were now making their way to the church in the small green car as the radio played 80s tunes that Rose remembered hearing her mother play during her childhood. Pete started going on about his latest business ideas as Rose listened quietly to all he had to say.

"I met this bloke at the horse's, and he's cutting me in on copyright." Explained Pete about one of his dealings. Rose was now realizing that it sounded more like dodgy dealings and networking with people who had questionable business propositions than legit business.

"But I thought you were a proper businessman and that." Said Rose confused. Pete laughed and declared,

"I wish! Oh, I do a bit of this, a bit of that. I scrape by."

"Right. So I must've heard wrong. So, really you're a bit of a Del Boy?" Rose questioned as she realized that her father was more leaning towards con-artist than office businessman.

"Oh, shoot me down in flames. You're not related to my wife by any chance, are you?" Smirked Pete and Rose put her hand over her mouth in realization.

"Oh, my God. She's going to be at the wedding." Rose gasped she then looked out of the car window at nothing trying to compose herself.

"What, Jackie? Do you know her?" Asked Pete, a bit confused by Rose's reaction. Rose gave a sort under her breath answer that she sort of did but that didn't seem to settle the mood in the car. Pete then wondered exactly what Rose knew about him if she has ever talked to Jackie, because depending on the mood Jackie was in at the time, her opinion and stories about him could severely vary. Almost afraid to ask Pete questioned,

"What's she told you about me, then?" The man winced for impact but to his surprise Rose just smiled and answered,

"She said she'd picked the most fantastic man in the world." That had not been the answer he had been expecting. Blimey was she drunk at the time she spoke to this Rose? She must be confusing his Jackie for another.

"Must be a different Jackie, then. She'd never say that." Before Rose could respond to that the radio then piped up and seemed to change channels to a rap station.

"This stuff goes right over my head." Pete complained as he fiddled with the radio dial to change the channel. Rose looked at the radio confused and double checked with her internal clock on the date and she knew that she wasn't wrong if her knowledge of music was accurate.

"That's not out yet." Declared Rose under her breath in a confused voice. Something had to be up or wrong for her father's radio to be playing music that would not be out for years. Pete was saying something about the music industry being a good thing to get into but Rose was too distracted by her time traveler's instinct going nutty that something was out of place. Was her phone on the frits too if his radio was? Needing a moment to herself she indicated that she needed to check her messages forgetting that at this point in time a cellular phone was a brick and texting by phone was not available yet. The phone seemed to be working, now she needed to try a test call. Voicemail would have to do and she appeared to have missed one call that had gone to voicemail.

"How do you mean, messages? Is that a phone?" Asked Pete in amazement at the device she held. She absentmindedly answered the affirmative. She put the phone to her ear and listened to her message only to hear the voice of a man she did not know.

"Watson, come here. I need you. Watson, come here. I need you. Watson, come here. I need you." Rose looked at her father confused. Not knowing what to do, she simply watch her father him drive unaware that behind them was the very car that was suppose to kill Pete following them. Pete's car turned down another street and the car intended for Pete and its driver vanished into thin air.

St Paul's Church, like many building like it, seemed unaffected by time or the fashion of its current patrons. Ancient, fortress-like but lonely looking and even more so today. Half the guests had yet to arrive to the wedding and the bride would be here any minute! This fact worried the groom, Stuart, to no end while his father seemed to be either uncaring or relieved that the event was not yet taking place.

"Half the guests haven't turned up. You're better off not being here, it's a disaster in the making. No, in this case, knocked her up is a phrase I'd use." Declared Stuart's father, on his ridiculously large mobile phone, as he callously relayed the event that he viewed as already doomed to fail. However any more unkind words that he could say were interrupted by the same message that Rose not a few moments before had heard on her phone. In vain he tried to call back the person he was speaking with but his son nervously came up to him and announced,

"Dad, get inside. We can't see the bride before the wedding. It's bad luck."

"It was bad luck when you met her. I tell you, this day is cursed." Retorted the irritated father as the two went back inside the church. And a good thing they did for at the moment the bride had arrived and was worriedly listening to her friends tell her about the missing guest that had not arrived yet. Along with that she was also accepting compliments about the dress the bride, Sarah, was wearing. The bride then noticed that her train had detached again as she got out of the car.

"I knew I should've used Velcro." Sarah moaned. Jackie who was also in the car but weighed down by something more heavy and fragile then a dress finally pulled herself from the opposite end of the car and groaned,

"I'm here. Stop your bellyaching. Take Rose a sec, will you?" Jackie was appointed to fix any problems that surfaced on the dress and had been helping the bride to be with enough problems with it to have no patience left for the bride to freak out now. She would have it fixed in no time and the only thing making it any more difficult was the fact that she had to also carry her baby in her heavy little travel cot. She swore that the little babe put on more weight everyday and she was growing out of her clothes faster then she could often afford to replace them. A baby's wardrobe was very expensive especially with her father's mere earnings as help. Even money Jackie made on her own from doing hair on the side was barely helping. Jackie handed her baby in her carry cot over to her friend, Bev.

"Oh, ain't she pretty?" Declared Bev, as she looked at the baby all warmly dressed in purple.

"She's a little madam, that's what she is. Oh, I need more hands. Where's her useless article of a dad got to?" Asked Jackie annoyed and as if on cue Pete's car rounded the corner and drove up to the church. It was then that the same car that seemed to have it in for Pete appeared out of nowhere and drove head on towards Pete and Rose in his green car. Pete had spotted his wife on the side of the road and was not looking at her and not ahead at the car driving toward them which Rose noticed right away. Rose had spotted the car first and by instinct knew she needed to get her father's attention fast. Without thinking she warned her father by shouting,

"Dad!" Pete turned his head back to the front of the car and managed to react and swerve into the curb just narrowly avoiding the car and missing a tree.

"It's that car. Same one as before." Declared Pete astonished and even more astonished that the car seemed to disappear right off the street as if it were a ghost car. Pete a bit shakily got out of his car and looked about for the mysterious vehicle. Was he going crazy? It was gone, but that couldn't be, Rose had seen it too.

"It was right in front of us. Where's he gone?" He asked Rose who now was also getting out of the car. He then remembered how Rose had warned him of the vehicle coming,

"You called me Dad. What'd you say that for?" He asked Rose confused, had she just gone crazy or had a flash back moment when she saw the car coming near them? It was then that Pete's wife, who looked very cross came pounding up the street carrying his daughter, little baby Rose, in her carrying cot.

"Oh, wonderful. Here he is, the accident waiting to happen. You'd be late for your own funeral and it nearly was!" shouted Jackie with no sympathy towards her husband's near death experience.

"No damage done." Said Pete dismissingly as he hoped that Jackie would just let the subject drop. Rose finally got a good look at her mother and two things struck her as odd, how much younger she looked and her hair! It was so big! Rose awe was interrupted when her mother finally gave her a suspicious look and growled,

"And who's this? What're you looking at with your mouth open?" Without thinking Rose just sputtered out,

"Your hair." Jackie looked even more affronted by the strange young blond and questioned quite angrily what she meant by that. Trying to recover quickly Rose corrected herself and her odd behavior by quickly explaining,

"I've never seen it like. I mean, it's lovely. Your hair's lovely." Then as if the young woman wasn't in shock enough from seeing her mother years younger, Rose looked down and saw that her mother was carrying a baby and that baby if she was correct was herself. She was looking at the baby version of herself from years ago.

"That would be your baby." Said Rose dumbfounded while pointing to herself in the carrying cot. Rose was too amazed by the oddity of the situation to realize just how crazy or unstable she was looking to her parents.

"Another one of yours, is she?" Hissed Jackie to her husband not too subtly hinting that she thought that this was some woman he was fooling around with. Pete looked insulted by the accusation and defended,

"She saved my life!" Indicating that that was the only reason that the two were traveling together.

"Oh, that's a new one. What was it last time?" Questioned Jackie, obviously not buying his story. Pete had honestly done nothing wrong and it hurt him that his wife thought that he was messing around when he wasn't. The only reason he was late and hanging out with this woman was due to perfectly innocent circumstances. He was buying a gift and giving his rescuer a lift to the same wedding that he was attending as thanks for saving his life, nothing more. 'Hmm, before I said I would have jumped out of the way, but now I'm saying she saved my life…well that was what she did, after all. She pushed me out of the way to save me the trouble of rescuing myself. And a perfectly reasonable excuse to be giving someone a ride.' Pete thought. He need to defend his good name and his wife wasn't looking anymore convinced of his innocence and now Jackie was bringing up an unfortunate past event.

"I didn't even know her. She was a cloakroom attendant. I was helping her look for my ticket. There were three duffel coats all the same. Somehow the rack collapsed. We were under all this stuff."

"Were you playing around?" Asked Rose of her father now seriously having reservations about her father and wondering about the information that her mother had given her growing up.

"What's it got to do with you what he gets up to?" Questioned Jackie to an upset Rose.

"What **does** he get up to?" She asked again. Rose was now thinking that her mother had left out a great deal of information about her father. She was also beginning to wonder what sort of man he would have turned out to be had he lived. Would he have cheated? Has he cheated? Was he the sort of man that would do something like that to their family? Rose felt stupid, of course her Mum would only tell her good things about her father, a dead man can't do anything more to sully his name once he's dead. True you could dig up stuff about someone that no one knew about a dead person after they were dead, but no one had been nice and given her any clues growing up to follow. She'd been lead to believe that her parents were deliriously happy together. If this was how they treated each other when he was alive maybe her parents might have been divorced by the time she was half the age she was now. Or maybe because he had died so suddenly and that they were always fighting that she felt guilt at not treating him better so she decided just to focus on the good when talking about him. 'I mean Mum's had almost 20 years to build him up in her mind and mine as well.' Rose thought to herself. When Rose was having this fearful revelation her parents unknown to them were fight and upsetting their only daughter and if baby Rose was old enough to know what was going on then she'd probably be about to cry too.

"You'd know." Growled Jackie to Rose which only upset her more. Pete found Jackie's paranoia ridiculous and now fat up argued in his defense,

"Oh, 'cos I'm that stupid. I play around and I bring her to meet the missus. You silly cow."

"But you are that stupid." Barked back Jackie.

"Can we keep this stuff back home just for now?" Begged Pete who was realizing that this was turning into quiet a scene in public and in front of a church no less.

"What, with the rest of the rubbish? You bring home cut-price detergents, tonic water, Betamax tapes and none of it works. I'm drowning in your rubbish." Yelled Jackie who then turned to the all but crying adult Rose and said,

"What did he tell you? Did he say he's this big businessman? 'Cos he's not. He's a failure. Born failure, that one. Rose needs a proper father, not one who's flannelling about like some big kid."

"Jackie, I'm making a living, it keeps us fed, don't it?" Yelled back Pete to his wife. Now Rose was at her wits end. All the horrible things that her mother was saying about her father couldn't be true! And she couldn't believe that her vision she grew up on of the two of them as this deliriously happy couple tragically cut short of their time together was an absolute falsity. It hurt her more than she ever thought it would to see her parents fighting like this and she was starting to draw the same uncomfortable comparisons with her own unhappy marriage. Maybe unhappy marriages ran in the family. Not being able to take anymore of her parents fighting, Rose broke down into tears, she couldn't accept that this was how her parents really were when they had been together and shouted for them to stop.

"You're not like this. You love each other." She bellowed out, not wanting the last bit of happy memories she had from her past destroyed unfeelingly in front of her. This effectively silenced the two to gawk at the crying woman who seems unusually upset over the argument of a couple she didn't know.

"Oh, Pete. You never used to like them mental. Or I don't know, maybe you did." Spat Jackie to her husband after starring dumbfounded at the crazy blonde before her. Jackie then started walking away with little Rose and Pete tried to follow.

"Jackie, wait, just listen." Begged Pete as he went after his wife and child.

"If you're not careful, there'll be a wedding and a divorce on the same day." Roared the woman, Pete wanted to follow but then remembered that he still had a car illegally parked on the sidewalk and handed his keys to Rose to park it.

"Wait here. Give us a couple of minutes with the missus. Tell you what, straighten the car up. Stick it round the corner or something. Don't cause any more trouble." Pete instructed Rose before catching up to his wife and child with the vase in his arms. What else was there to do? Rose did as her father told and parked the 'family' car around the corner so that it would not be ticketed. Sighing to herself as Rose locked the car she then made her way to the church entrance. She rounded the fenced corner to the front of the church where much to her displeasure she found her parents still fighting. Rose decided that the only thing for it was to hang back at a distance and let her parents sort it out…if they could.

"I'm not listening. It's just the duffel coats all over again." Moaned Jackie, not wanting to hear more excuses from her husband.

"Jackie, sometimes a duffel coat is just a duffel coat. Things will get better soon, I promise." Said Pete to Jackie sweetly.

"I've had enough of all your daft schemes. I never know where the next meal's coming from." Replied Jackie with concern but seemed to be giving in a bit to his reassurances. To Rose's relief at least her parents appeared to be calming down after having a good row. Maybe her father was right and couples did just have rows all the time and it was nothing to worry about. Maybe that was what a marriage was about, driving each other crazy but still at the end of the day loving each other enough to work past through the problems and realizing that at the end of the day you are happier together than apart.

"I'll get it right, love. One day soon, I promise you, I'll get it right. Come on." Soothed Pete and Jackie began to pout a bit. Perhaps she was thinking that she had been a bit too hard on her Pete. Maybe she was just stressing because of the wedding. Rose smiled sweetly at the reconciled couple, but the happy atmosphere was interrupted by a scared little well dressed boy running down the street towards the church. He didn't stop to give an explanation he just shouted,

"Monsters! Going to eat us!" And then he ran into the church. The adults and bride loitering outside the church laughed at the boys antics and a woman, called Suzie, just giggled to him and asked as he ran by,

"What sort of monsters, sweetheart? Is it aliens?" Rose's eyes followed after the boy with concern. She recognized the little lad from somewhere, but she didn't have too long to think about it before she heard a familiar voice shouting her name. Rose recognized the voice right away, it was the Doctor. Rose cracked a knowing smile, he had come back for her, as she knew he would. Well mostly. There was a little doubt for a while, but her parents' reconciliation had given her confidence that the Doctor was no doubt running back to her. 'Knew he'd miss me too much.' Rose thought a bit cockily as she turned around to see him quite literally running back to her. She smiled at the sight of him racing to her until she noticed the concerned and frightened look on his face. Then she heard him holler,

"Get in the church!" Rose knew something was up and became scared when she saw the Doctor look to the sky ahead of him. Rose turned her head reluctantly skyward in front of her only to be greeted with the vision of a large thing with bat-like wings that appeared out of nowhere in the sky. It looked like a demon or a devil and it hissed at her before starting to swoop down on her like an angel of death. Rose could do nothing but scream in the presence of such a terrifying specter. She would have been its prey if not for the Doctor grabbing Rose and pulling her to the pavement on top of him just in time to avoid its talons. Safe, for the moment, the Doctor shouted for everyone to get into the church. Faced with such a monster the guests and bride needed no encouragement to run into the building. That was until two more appeared in the sky.

"Oh, my God. What are they? What are they?" Shouted the Suzie woman. The Doctor again yelled for people to get inside but it was chaos and people were running every which way. Stuart's father was the first to be pinned down and eaten by one of the monsters. Another would have had the bride but her screams and big white dress seemed to frighten the monster and it went for a more vulnerable-looking and safer target, the Vicar. Well there went the ceremony.

The Doctor finally managed to corral the surviving bride's party into the church and slammed the church doors shut on the creatures. The church was a noisy mess of people panicked and talking about what they just saw. Rose however was very quietly observing at his side. The Doctor very happily watched the creatures appear to be held back by the old building and crowed,

"They can't get in. Old windows and doors. Okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. What else? Go and check the other doors! Move!" The Doctor said this while he ran from door to door checking that they were securely locked. Jackie seeing that her baby in a relatively safer place and having caught her breath now wanted answers. The leather clad man seemed to have a clue what was going on so she approached him and demanded,

"What's happening? What are they? What are they?" Still checking windows and doors the Doctor explained to Jackie,

"There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage." That made no sense at all to the woman and she shouted back to the Doctor,

"What do you mean, time? What're you jabbering on about, time?" Well it seemed that it didn't matter what year he found Jackie Tyler, his mother-in-law… what he meant was Rose's mother was going to make life difficult for him. Well he was to take none of this now! He had none of his future slights against her hanging over his head yet for her to use as ammunition against him and he was going to have the last word this time.

"Oh, I might've known you'd argue. Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining." The Doctor said with more confidence than normal against his greatest adversary to date, the fearsome alien matriarch of the clan of Tyler, known as Jaclyn Tyler.

"How do you know my name?" Demanded a scandalized Jackie.

"I haven't got time for this." Clipped the Doctor.

"I've never met you in my life!" continued Jackie mystified. The Doctor was now at the end of his patience pointed at the back of the church. He stood as tall as he could and in the most dominating and authoritative voice he could muster, the Doctor boomed,

"No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors." To the Doctor's amazement Jackie then cowed to his demand and in a very submissive manner replied,

"Yes, sir."

"I should have done that ages ago." Smirked the Doctor to himself as Jackie went to do his bidding. His victory was short lived however as, the groom, Stuart inquired about his father who was still outside. The Doctor felt sympathy for the man who had lost his father but had a job to do and didn't need water works now from people.

"You can mourn him later. Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive." The Doctor said in a serious voice as the creatures passed by the windows still unable to get inside. Undaunted Stuart continued,

"My dad had…"

"There's nothing I can do for him." Interrupted the Doctor,

"No, but he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice." Stuart explained as he handed the phone off to the confused Doctor. Upon hearing the voice on the phone, the Doctor's face lit up and declared,

"That's the very first phone call. Alexander Graham Bell. I don't think the telephone's going to be much use." The Doctor then handed back the phone but Stuart insisted that someone had to have called the police by now.

"Police can't help you now. No one can. Nothing in this universe can harm those things." Announced the Doctor. No longer breathing an intimidating authority the Doctor approached Rose.

"Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilize the wound. By consuming everything inside." The Doctor explained as he locked eyes with a frightened Rose, stopping in front of her and clearly only addressing her now. Rose now fully grasping the situation that the Doctor was conveying, whispered to him,

"Is this because? Is this my fault?" The Doctor just continued to look at her with gentler but firm eyes before swallowing slightly and walking away without answering her question. Pete watched the exchanged with fascination. He had been on his knees close by, protecting his child in his wife's absence, and had managed to catch the more personal exchange between the two strangers who had just showed up in his life. Who were they really? Pete was confused but he was a clever man and was starting to put pieces together that although he didn't realize it yet might add up to a most impossible theory later.

**Author's Notes:** Rose had to get her smarts from somewhere and I don't think it's from Jackie, though her attitude and spunk she must get from her Mum. Doctor and Rose are both acting a bit immature, now with the end of the world to deal with they might mature and act their ages…well act like adults anyway. Tell me what you think, I love hearing your thoughts.


	39. Ch 39 Father's Day Part III

Complicated

By The-Plot-Thinens

Chapter 39 - Father's Day Part III: Of Men and monsters

The doors and windows were all secure and all that was left to do was to wait for what happened next. It had been a while now of waiting for the monsters to figure out a way to get at the people inside and eat them. Wedding guests would flinch from the screams of the monsters and of their unfortunate victims outside on the road. The only sign that people had ever been there outside was the various remaining human artifacts on the street and the occasional car crash in the distance. Shoes bicycles, a pram, and other human trinkets littered the ground and two males looked dismally out at the empty street through the Vestry window.

"There's smoke coming up from the city but no sirens. I don't think it's just us. I think these things are all over the place. Maybe the whole world." Declared Pete grimly to the Doctor. 'Rose was right.' thought the Doctor, Peter Tyler was indeed clever. The two were then startled by the sudden appearance of the same car passing by on the street that had almost hit Pete twice today. It drove down the street the driver swerve and the car disappeared into thin air again! Pete was now very confused and turned to the Doctor to confirm that he had seen what he had seen. Otherwise he was going crazy.

"Was that a car?" Asked Pete of the Doctor. The Doctor merely looked on at the offending vehicle with a knowing gaze, he knew what the universe wanted and he made his decision not to give it what it sought.

"It's not important. Don't worry about it." Said the Doctor in a dismissive tone, Pete was not so sure. The Doctor had to find a way to save the world, save Rose without having to sacrifice her father to do it. He knew that the easiest way to fix everything in this world was to let Pete walk in front of that car, but that he could not do. Rose had already watched her father die once and she had risked everything to keep him alive. The Doctor could not see her that upset again no matter what the risk. There was some way for him to cheat the system; The Doctor just had to be clever enough to figure it out. He doubted that Rose even understood the risks he was taking for her and continued to be taking for her, that in part helped keep him silently furious with her.

'So I'm going to risk possibly pulling the universe apart just for Rose and her happiness' Pondered the Doctor as another voice piped up in his head, 'Okay, Time Lord, I don't think you are going to be able to fool yourself much longer. I think you love Rose.'

Rose was never a very religious person, but in times of great trouble one might start finding religion real fast. Rose said a quick prayer to any deity that would listen that they would all come out of this well and not eaten by monsters as she stood by the altar. It was then that Pete came out of the vestry and approached Rose, he had questions to ask. Very thoughtful and a bit awkwardly he asked,

"This mate of yours. What did he mean, this is your fault?" Pete knew that since Rose was with the Doctor she had to know a lot more than she was letting on too. And he had his suspicions, he might sound crazy to her after this conversation but the day was already crazy enough, why not a bit more?

"Don't know. Just everything." Answered Rose with misty eyes. With a more knowing look then before, as things were beginning to click together in his head, Pete declared,

"I gave you my car keys. You don't give your keys to a complete stranger. It's, it's like I trusted you. Moment I met you, I just did." Rose was starting to see too that her father was getting close to figuring out who she was and to be honest she hoped that he was. The world was coming to an end so what did it matter if he found out that she was really his daughter? And if he found out on his own it wasn't like she had done anything wrong that might anger the Doctor more.

"Wound in time. You called me Dad." Said Pete as he looked into Rose's eyes. Rose heart skipped a beat he was getting it. Her clever father was putting the clues together!

"I can see it. My eyes, Jackie's attitude. You sound like her when you shout." Pete declared sweetly as he ran a tentative hand along the young woman's cheek, which he knew to be his own daughter. Rose was now really misty eyed and now that her father had found her out she couldn't stand him being afraid to touch her. Seeking a connection and comfort she grabbed her father's hand and placed it up against the cheek he had just hesitantly touched. Keeping it there with her on hand she breathed in her father's scent and basked in the warm hand against her face. She was actually allowed to hold her father's hand in daughterly affection and he was giving back the same in fatherly love, this was wonderful and something she didn't dream she was going to get to experience during this trip.

"You are. You are. You're my Rose. You're my Rose grown up." Cried Pete happily has he took his daughter's face into both his hands and lovingly touched her forehead with his own. The two then wrapped each in a tight hug and crying clung to each other. Amazingly with all that had gone wrong today suddenly this day was right up there with some of the best days in her whole life.

"Dad. My Dad. My Daddy." Cried Rose letting out all the emotions and feelings she had been holding back while trying to keep of the guise of being a stranger to her own father.

Rose for the first time, in what seemed like forever, felt completely comforted. She was starting to get accustomed to colder treatment of the Doctor so the full out affection her father was giving her was an amazing shock to her system. In her father's arms she almost felt like nothing could harm her even though rationally that was as far from the truth as possible. But for now she was safe with her father. On the other hand elsewhere in the church the Doctor was nervously observing that the creatures outside were getting more anxious to get inside. One of the winged creatures was head-butting a side door. The Doctor pulled the curtain hiding the door aside and began to get out his sonic screwdriver. He was securing the bolts on the ancient door when the bride and groom of this seemingly doomed wedding party timidly approached him.

"Excuse me, Mister…" Said Stuart.

"Doctor" corrected the Time Lord. He really didn't have time to talk to these people right now.

"You seem to know what's going on." Indicated the groom to which the Doctor flippantly replied that he gave that impression. He so did not have time for domestics with humans.

"I just wanted to ask…" Stuart started sheepishly, but his sentence was finished by the bride, who asked hopefully,

"Can you save us?" At this question the Doctor stopped his sonicing and turned his head to the couple. Giving the two humans an appraising look he asked,

"Who are you two, then?" To which the two answered that they were Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clark. The Doctor's eyes then looked downward at the bride's dress and asked with genuine curiosity.

"And one extra. Boy or girl?" The bride let out a relaxed sigh at the thought of her baby on the way and declared while rubbing her stomach,

"I don't know. I don't want to know, really."

"How did all this get started?" Asked the Doctor knowing from his travels that everyone had a story to tell which were usually interesting. Ordinary people he found usually were interesting. After all ordinary people were the ones who lived history. The groom smiled at the memory and answered,

"Outside the Beatbox Club, two in the morning." Also fond of the memory the bride-to-be smiled,

"Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi." Stuart then proudly declared that he took her to her home. Which was quite the gallant gesture to help someone who was without a ride just get home thought the Doctor. He himself had given many rides to people who needed help before in the past. The Time Lord asked what happened next between them, and did he ask her for a date?

"Wrote his number on the back of my hand." Smiled Sarah to which Stuart joked,

"Never got rid of her since. My dad said…" Stuart's joking mood then dropped as he remembered what had happened to his father outside the church. His silence spoke volumes to Sarah and she moved to comfort him. Sarah held Stuarts hand and after taking a strong breath she stated,

"I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important…" The Doctor could not let the rest of that sentence pass. They were just as important as anyone else.

"Who said you're not important? I've travelled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two. Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never…" The Doctor's thoughts then flashed to the sight of Rose, bundled up, and sitting alone after dark under the light at a street corner bus stop. He remembered the conversation that led to eventually taking her to his home... John's home as an honored guest and the happy morning they had had afterwards. It had not been how they first met. They had met under the worst of circumstances. But that time at the bus stop had been their 'taxi at 2 am'. 'I sort of did have a life like that once…' Thought the Doctor to himself before regaining his composure and smiling as he announced,

"Yes. I'll try and save you." What else could the two people do but smile back at the mysterious man?

Pete was now seated on a wooden chair inside the Vestry and engaging in the amazing activity of getting up to speed with his now grown up daughter, Rose. His daughter who by some magic was here with him now and had lived a whole life she technically had not even lived yet. To his relief she had not seemed to turn out half bad so thank goodness he must have done an okay job as a dad. He always was worrying about what kind of person his little baby girl would grow up to be. He didn't want to be one of those parents that messed up their kid. Still flabbergasted the man declared happily,

"I'm a dad. I mean, I'm already a dad, but Rose grows up and she's you. That's wonderful. I mean, I suppose I thought that you'd be a bit useless, what with my useless genes and all, but. Well, I mean, how did you get here?" Rose laughed at her father's stunned comments and answered,

"Do you really want to know?" Did he really want to know? Of course he wanted to know that was like asking someone if they didn't want to win a diamond the size of their hand. Pete answered an enthusiastic 'yeah' and Rose wondered if her father would believe her if she even said. Even she didn't believe it sometimes, said,

"A time machine." Pete repeated what Rose said but still couldn't believe it. It was like that movie that just came out back in 1985, 'Back to the Future'. He laughed a bit at idea of his Rose as Marty McFly. Ha, she even came traveling with a Doc! Well, Doctor anyway. Then he thought about how Marty had gotten in trouble coming back in time and wondered about the situation they now found themselves in. His pondering was interrupted however when Rose assured him,

"Cross my heart." Trying to get his bearings for the future Pete asked,

"What, do you all have time machines where you come from?" He couldn't believe he just asked that it seemed too sci-fi-futuristic even for the future. This wasn't like a movie, right?

"No, just the Doctor." Explained Rose, not wanting her Dad to get too overwhelmed by mistakenly thinking that everyone in the future had time machines.

"Did you know these things were coming? Is that why you are here? Because of those things outside?" Rose had to admit that she had not known about the creatures outside.

"God, I don't know, my head's spinning. What's the future like?" Asked Pete, he wanted to hear something pleasant to look forward to in order to ground himself. What could Rose say to that? It wasn't like the Jetsons in her time, other than not having portable phones the size of bricks and not needing to use an actual library as often, it wasn't so different. That's what she could say.

"It's not so different." Answered Rose. Realizing that Rose probably wasn't going to go into anymore details on that subject, he then switched to a different priority, the kind that everyone no matter who they were on Earth would want to know about the future.

"What am I like? Have I gone grey?" Asked Pete only to be met with Rose's stunned silence at the question. Nervous at what this could mean Pete jokingly questioned,

"Have I gone bald?" Again no response from his suddenly quiet daughter and in despair the man declared,

"Don't tell me I've gone bald." If the situation wasn't so tragic, Rose might have laughed at her father's priorities. Rose wished that the worst that she could tell him was that he had gone bald, but what his real fate was she could simply not tell him. Wanting to get off the subject of his hair he thought that he would soon have to mourn, Pete went on the subject of other men in her life and said,

"So, if this mate of yours isn't your boyfriend and I have to say, I'm glad, because being your dad and all, I think he's a bit old for you." Rose laughed at the comment but sadly had to disappoint him and if she told him how old the Doctor really was he probably would fall over. Curious of his reaction and still laughing, though a bit sheepish, she answered,

"N,o he's not my boyfriend, Dad… He's my husband… we're sort of newlyweds." Rose then swallowed hard and held out her right hand so he could see the ring. Rose wondered if this was at all like telling your Daddy you got your first boyfriend. She remembered Shareen's dad not being too happy finding out that his little girl was dating a boy. So how would it be like for her father getting to skip that stage all together and just find out his little girl was already married?

"What? So… so, the Doctor, that bloke…He's my son-in-law? But he's older than me!" Announced Pete as he pointed in the direction he believed the Doctor was. Pete was a 'little' staggered by this information but still too new to this fantastical situation to feel the need to go up at arms just yet and interrogate what was essentially, to his knowledge, his daughters first boyfriend. Well husband now. 'Older than you, Daddy…You have no idea.' Thought Rose now a bit worried that her Dad might mince words with the Doctor now over what he viewed as cradle robbing. Pete didn't really know what he thought of the Doctor yet and his mind started formulating a scenario of his daughter eloping, but he fast realized that such thoughts weren't good for him. Especially when he had no control in the matter in the first place, rationally he wanted to think that his daughter could and should marry who ever she thought would make her happy. But irrationally, he was still her Daddy and wanted to protect her from all possible threats. He had an important question to ask then in regards to his daughter's marriage. Pete took in a deep breath and after running his hand through his hair that he hoped would still be there by the time Rose was 20, he declared,

"Well the deeds already done, so I guess I didn't stop it. Or didn't do a good enough job of it. Does he make you happy at least? Are you happy then, love?" Rose's face fell at this question. She didn't want to lie to her father and besides it was probably already evident to her Dad that she and the Doctor were having a fight. She also didn't want her father to have an ill opinion of the man she married. Not sure what to say, she decided to go with something middle of the lane.

"We've been happier…" was all Rose could answer as she rotated her ring back and forth on her finger. Pete could tell there was a long story behind this.

"Do you mind if I ask what's wrong?" Inquired Pete with concern. Rose had hoped that if her father had ever seen her married that she would be undoubtedly happy, but in light of recent events she was anything but undoubtedly happy. What did she say? Dad, I married the most wonderful man on Earth then it turned out he wasn't even from Earth. Would he understand fob watch genetic changing devices when she didn't even understand it completely? Not even knowing what she was saying or possibly that she was talking aloud she muttered,

"It's not a simple thing for either of us. It's just things have been hard since the change its…well...like there are three of us in this relationship now and we're trying to see how things fall in place."

"Three? Is there another bloke involved?" Asked Pete not sure he heard right. Was this Doctor seemingly so angry over another man?

"No, there is no other bloke. Believe me I wouldn't cheat on anyone. I never even cheated on…"

"Mickey!" Jackie called out for the frightened child that was running up to Rose. The little lad upon reaching Rose latched on to her with a hug. Rose saw the scared look in the little boys face and patted his head for reassurance. Pete was confused by the little boy's actions and asked Rose if she knew the little guy. Rose had heard her mother call the boy Mickey and looking at his face it was indeed Mickey Smith, her ex-boyfriend!

"I just didn't recognize him in a suit. You have to let go of me, sweetheart. I'm always saying that." Mused Rose.

"He just grabs hold of what's passing and holds on for dear life. God help his poor girlfriend if he ever gets one." Sighed Jackie as Mickey came back to her side. Pete looked at his wife and was now feeling very nervous for being found alone with another woman even though it was his daughter, Jackie did not know that. They had just patched things up and he didn't need a misunderstanding with Jackie before the end of the world.

"Me and Rose were just talking." Piped up Pete in an uneasy voice. Jackie was not buying that and glared at her husband. What a rotter of a man she had married? Does he comfort his wife during the possible end of the world? Or cuddle with their baby? No, he squirrels away with this tart who, by the way, if the ring on her finger meant anything, was also already married too!

"Oh, yeah? Talking? While the world comes to an end, what do you do? Cling to the youngest blonde. Come on, Mick." Announced Jackie trying to mask her hurt and fear for the situation with outrage and left with Mickey. Rose cringed at her mother's hurtful words and avoided eye contact. Pete could see that she was not used to being talked to like that especially not from her own mother. He couldn't stand it and after flashing a look at Rose he started to walk off with purpose. Rose knew what he was going to do without him saying it and grabbed her father's arm to stop him.

"You can't tell her." Pleaded Rose to her dad. Pete was confused and asked why her own mother couldn't know who she was?

"I mean, I really don't want you to tell her." Corrected Rose worried at what more damage that would do or how her mother would take it. Rose wanted her middle name to be 'damage control' at this point.

"What, do you don't want people to know?" Questioned her father. Rose needed to make sure that her father didn't say a word to her mother. It might hurt their family for her mother to think she was another woman, but the less people who knew about the future the better she had finally been convinced from her travels. Implying that her mother might not be able to handle such new information, Rose replied,

"Where I come from, Jackie doesn't know how to work the timer on the video recorder."

"I showed her that last week." Laughed Pete, then seeing what Rose was getting at answered, "Point taken." Pete realized that if Jackie couldn't handle and retain that information than probably releasing information to Jackie that their time traveling daughter from the future, who is, by the way, married to that old looking bloke, the Doctor has come for a visit just in time for the end of the world, might be too much for her right now.

The Doctor was talking to baby Rose in her carrying cot by the choir stalls. The Doctor had the cot propped on the one of the stalls and was rocking it while cooing to the little baby. The baby wasn't doing much just quietly staring fascinated at the big nosed and even bigger eared man in front of her. The Doctor had to admit that although this small innocent-looking alien youngling would eventually bring about the destruction of the world as they knew it, the apocalypse, she was a very cute baby.

Rose was approaching the Doctor from behind and witnessed what appeared to be a very cute and tender domestic scene of the Doctor talking to a baby in a little cot. Which she also remembered was her. Rose felt a small twinge of something maternal or domestic, as the Doctor would put it loathingly, and for a flash of a moment Rose wondered if John would have been good with babies or would he have even wanted to have one together, if the two of them had had the time that was. Rose brushed that thought aside as ridiculous now, especially in her current situation. First off she was sure that the Doctor would never initiate anything intimate with her except holding hands and unless that was how aliens made babies then that was not anywhere near close to happening ever. Second, she and The Doctor were on the outs and she was sure that if they lived he probably was going to make sure they got a divorce after all this or that he would just drop her off somewhere. Would he even be domestic about it enough to stick around long enough to sign divorce papers before he left in that blue box? Or just leave her in legal limbo? In addition with all that was happening now, a future with a child was probably the last thing on the Doctor's mind right now. Also hadn't she recalled hearing the Doctor say they weren't even compatible anyway? Oh and lastly the final strike against a future together, the world was ending soon too. Still she was touched by the scene in front of her. That was until she heard what the Doctor was saying to her younger self.

"Now, Rose you're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?" The Doctor cooed to the baby sarcastically as he vented his frustrations with grownup Rose a bit. Just because some part of his head said that he was falling in love with Rose, didn't mean he couldn't still be peeved with her for her irresponsible actions. He liked that, at least, with this Rose he could finally have the last word in every time. Rose was not happy at the Doctor's cheek and got closer still. The universe would be witness that all couples have rows but if this is what happens when the Doctor and Rose have a row then for the sake of the universe they probably should not have them too often.

Rose was annoyed by the Doctor's words. She was also annoyed by his uncanny ability to spoil any happy thought she could have, she came up behind him and looked at the baby her, which was still a weird thing, but at least she wasn't an ugly baby.

"Now, Rose you're not going to marry a git, are you? Are you?" Rose parroted the Doctor's question, a bit differently to her baby self, after having over heard the Doctor's condescending baby talk at infant herself. Unfazed by Rose retort the Doctor smirked,

"Jackie gave her to me to look after. How times change." In a few years time that would certainly never happen again. Rose rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject to something more pleasant.

"I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken." Chuckled Rose, she then absentmindedly went to tickle the cute little baby in front of her. It might have been narcissistic but she'd never seen a cuter baby and she wanted to see the quiet little child giggle. However before she could get near the baby the Doctor shot up his hand and snatched it away from the baby and held it as far from the infant as he could while still supporting the baby cot. An onlooker might have thought the Doctor very over protective. That set the Doctor off, his anger towards her recklessness had started to cool down before and here was Rose again doing something stupid.

"No. Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person. That's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in." Warned the Doctor grimly. Rose was now a bit frustrated with herself, could she start any more trouble today with only the purest of intentions in mind? Feeling a bit defeated at her obvious lack of paradoxical and time traveling understanding she sighed,

"Can't do anything right, can I?" Unsympathetic and irritated at how much of a mess Rose had left him to somehow hopefully clean up the Doctor gruffed patronizingly,

"Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby." He then stared at Rose with an icy and angry look that frightened her and then angered her that he thought so little of her intelligence. She had it with him. He just explained not to touch the baby so of course she wasn't going to touch her. What a snobbish, elitist, speciesist…

"I'm not stupid." Spat Rose to the Doctor. Not intimidated by the dumb ape and still very angry at the betrayal and dire circumstances he had suffered from Rose he growled,

"You could have fooled me." Rose took a step back and he saw how hurt she was and that she had no comeback. Ha. He'd won. Yay him. So where was the satisfaction that he thought would come from humiliating and humbling Rose Tyler? It wasn't there. In fact he felt worse. And right now in light of the circumstances, did he really want to hold a grudge and spend what little time he had left belittling Rose and making her feel like she was of no consequence to him? He was still upset, but no. He didn't want that to be how things sat with him and Rose. Just looking at the lovely creature in front of him looking so lost and alone, he couldn't hold a grudge or be angry for long with Rose Tyler. He had to give her some reassurance in such a hopeless situation. All Rose ever did was love too much and unfortunately in his case most likely unwisely.

"All right, I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to leave you on your own." Confessed the Doctor.

"I know." Said Rose without hesitation, the Doctor sort of liked that for some reason, but then remembered the situation at hand and explained to Rose,

"But between you and me, I haven't got a plan. No idea. No way out." The Doctor confessed again. Rose saw that her time lord…her time lord? He was giving into despair and she need to find some way to reassure him and pull him out of it. He was a genius after all, easily the smartest person she had ever known. If anyone could find a solution it was the Doctor.

"You'll think of something." Said Rose in a comforting voice. The Doctor looked at Rose and then around the building that they were inside.

"The entire Earth's been sterilized. This, and other place like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing I can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening. My people would have stopped this. But they're all gone. And now I'm going the same way." Explained the Doctor. Rose was understanding now that the Doctor had done something he shouldn't have done for her. If he wasn't the last of his species he would have been punished for crossing her own timeline and his twice just to fulfill one human's request of him. And now that she knew completely why it was outlawed by his people and why it was so dangerous. The creatures scratching at the stain glass windows were proof enough of that. She had made a large mess of things and now the Doctor had to clean it up. What had she done?

"If I'd realized." Said Rose plainly and almost unable to look him in the eye out of shame of the mess she made of things. The Doctor craned his head so that his eyes were locked with Rose's. She noticed that they were guarded but not as cold. It was as if they were waiting for the cue to become soft once again.

"Just tell me you're sorry." The Doctor said in kind. Rose looked at him with a deep sincerity,

"I am. I'm sorry." The Doctor then placed his hand on Rose's cheek like he had in the console room yesterday. His expression changed instantly at Rose's words and he smiled broadly. Rose let out a sigh of relief. He had forgiven her for essentially ending the world. How many people had someone like that? Rose nuzzled into the warm of his hand and couldn't help but be reminded of how her father had shown her affection in a similar manner earlier. Perhaps some girls do marry men like their fathers in some ways as odd a thought that was. Reconciled the two time travels embraced in a hug. Nothing could ruin the moment not even the end of the world. That was until Rose noticed a warm feeling against her chest and looked at the Doctor confused. Leather didn't get that warm, curious as to the cause she reached into his inner jacket folds without hesitation to investigate. Rose in that moment had forgotten the precarious state of their relationship and the doctor stiffened from the contact. Why was Rose reaching into his coat, he thought a bit alarmed. His large mind flashed to the ring he had left in his inner pocket and he panicked at the idea of her finding it. He then let out a quick sigh of relief when she reached into the opposite pocket which did not contain John Smith's wedding ring. That secret was again safe. Rose then began to form a question.

"Have you got something hot?" Asked Rose feeling around inside his very large pocket not realizing that she was making the Doctor uncomfortable. Rationally she knew that the Doctor was different now, so the rules of contact had changed, but sometimes she would forget and behaved around him as if he were just John. Reaching into any of his pockets in the past used to require no indecision , so on instinct her hand was in his inner jacket pocket to find the source of the warm. She had grabbed what felt like a key that she realized as she was pulling it out was glowing hot and she quickly dropped it on the floor. Rose looked confused by the strange reaction from the key that had been hers before the Doctor had asked for it back.

"It's the TARDIS key!" Cheered the Doctor in surprise and went to pick up the hot key with his jacket after taking it off. Safely picking it up the Doctor declared to Rose who was looking on fascinated,

"It's telling me it's still connected to the Tardis." The Doctor excitedly ran to the pulpit to make an announcement. He had a plan and there was hope.

"The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this to bring it back. And once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?" Said the Doctor as he addressed the small crowd of frightened humans.

Stuart who had been very closely listening to the Doctor now thought about batteries. He had to be helpful if there was to be any hope of saving his loved ones. He looked all about for something in the church that was battery powered. Eventually his eyes fell on the empty seat in front of him where his father's mobile phone sat. That had to have a battery in it that the Doctor could use. The young man picked up the phone and brought it up to the Doctor, a bit worried he asked,

"This one big enough?" The Doctor looked at the oversized cellular phone. 'A mobile phone from the 1980s, oh yeah that would do.' Thought the Doctor,

"Fantastic." Smiled the Doctor excitedly, this plan might work after all.

"Good old dad. There you go." Cheered Stuart as he handed over the phone.

"Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back." Beamed the Doctor as the sounds of the monsters banging on the church walls and doors could be heard through the masonry. The Doctor got right to work tweaking the battery with his sonic screwdriver so it would work with the key. The Doctor loved a challenge but while he was excitedly moving about, Rose and Pete were having a much quieter chat near the main entrance of the church.

"You, er, you never said why you came here in the first place. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't have thought 1987 was anything special. Not round here, anyway." Declared Pete very curious though flattered that his future daughter would swing by for a visit when he was sure there were so many other more interesting places to visit. Still he was very proud to get to meet his daughter who traveled through time, not just anyone got to do that he was sure.

"We just ended up here." Answered Rose as if it were just an accident. Pete was even more amazed by her sudden appearance and said,

"Lucky for me, eh? If you hadn't been there to save me." Rose now looked very uncomfortable and putting on her best fake smile she explained,

"That was just a coincidence. That was just really good luck. It's amazing." 'The universe was indeed an extraordinary place, what were the odds of that happening?' Thought Pete, and now that he had his time traveling daughter all grown up in front of him he just had to ask more questions about what had to be a bright future. With a daughter so amazing, lovely and traveled, how could his future not be something to look forward to as well? He really wanted to know what it was he did right by Rose for her to turn out so good. Maybe her parents, i.e. Jackie and him, were able to pull it together and give her a god upbringing after all.

"So, in the future, are me and her indoors still together?" Asked Pete gesturing at Jackie and looking a bit nervous. Rose indicated the affirmative but seemed to have a hint of sadness on her face. Still the information that his marriage had not fallen apart was refreshing and smiling he asked if Rose and her husband were living close by to them in the future. Again Rose answered the affirmative. Well her house she had been living in with John had been close enough to the Powell Estate and now in the TARDIS her house if they wanted it to be was right around the corner. Rose tried to be cheerful but this time she seemed to have trouble looking her father in the eye, she was feeling quite guilty about lying so much to her father. Pete took Rose's lack of eye contract for embarrassment, though he wondered why she should be embarrassed to tell her father of her living arrangements. Brushing that aside he asked another question that was important to him.

"Am I a good dad?" asked Pete. Now for this question Rose took a moment to think and then very slowly she declared,

"You, you told me a bedtime story every night when I was small. You were always there. You never missed one. And er, you took us for picnics in the country every Saturday. You never let us down. You were there for us all the time. Someone I could really rely on." Pete let out a sigh after hearing Rose's words. He now knew that his daughter was telling him only what he wanted to hear. He knew himself the best and she described a man that he could not possibly be or hope to become. It wasn't that he didn't want to be all that for Rose, he just knew that he couldn't. He would try, however, to read bedtime stories for Rose whenever he could if he had any say in it. Something was fishy and the father Rose described he knew was too perfect to ever be him.

"That's not me." Said Pete sadly and Rose suspected that her father was not being fooled at all. However, anymore conversation was interrupted by the familiar although a bit slower sound of the TARDIS.

Near the altar the TARDIS was now slowly materializing around the hot TARDIS key that appeared to be just floating in midair around an almost imaginary lock. The Doctor put his Jacket back on no longer needing it for an oven mit and smiled a toothy grin. He was sure that this was going to work now as long as nothing touched the TARDIS until it was done materializing,

"Right, no one touches that key. Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap. Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us. Stuart, Sarah you're going to get married, just like I said." Announced the Doctor to his hopeful audience.

Impatiently the wedding party sat and waited for this odd police box to fully appear. Some were not as sure as others that this would work but they had no other options available to them and just hoped that this madman's plan would save them. The Doctor was now sitting next to Rose and looking ahead as he waited for his ship to arrive completely. Pete was sitting by himself in the row of chairs behind his daughter and the Doctor and Pete was looking very wary. It was awkward silence for the most part and was not aided by Rose's mother shooting her and her father daggers while she rocked the infant version of Rose.

'I've barely cried at all, I was a really good baby.' Rose thought based on her observation of herself for the last few hours. All baby Rose seemed to do was quietly stare about and absorb all the information around her, which unknown to Rose was a trait that the Doctor had also observed in baby Rose. Looking at herself and her mother made Rose think of the future she had come from and how her mother meeting them especially the Doctor so early would change her history. What would happen after they escaped in the TARDIS?

"When time gets sorted out…" Inquired Rose hesitantly and not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Everybody here forgets what happened. And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed." Explained the Doctor as illusively as possible so that Pete might not overhear too much. However, Pete was cleverer than the Doctor or Rose gave him credit for.

"You mean I'll still be alive, though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything." Interrupted Pete in a very serious voice almost bitterly. Why would the universe give him a break or let him have just a little taste of success for all his hair brain plans and invention ideas if he was just going to die anyway before he could even make them a reality? He was just wasting space on Earth until he could be plowed down by a car and rot in the ground, again wasting space! The Doctor would not have any person, let alone the man who was technically his father-in-law, denigrating himself. Just because you died early didn't mean that the universe was intentionally keeping you from accomplishing things before you died. Nor was a short life any less important or meaningful as a long one. The Time Lord couldn't stand to see the hurt on Rose's face at hearing her father say something like that about himself.

"It doesn't work like that." Assured the Doctor. Pete was irritated by the whole situation that frankly he was now realizing was his fault.

"Rubbish. I'm so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened." Hissed Pete to himself in self-loathing. Rose could not take her father badmouthing himself when she was the one who had made the mess. Rose sprang forward and placed her hand on her fathers and announced,

"This is my fault." Pete smiled at his daughter, she was trying to pin this all on herself but that wasn't how it worked either. She might be all grown-up, beautiful, and married now but she was still his little girl and he was still her Dad.

"No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault." It was almost a tender moment until Jackie had decided to come over to talk and had overheard her husband talking to the young blond. Cradling her baby daughter closer to her body, Jackie declared in outrage,

"Her dad? How are you her dad? How old were you, twelve? Oh, that's disgusting." The Doctor sensing ensuing domestics just shook his head and got up and left the family drama to unfold. There had to be some window, or door that needed more sonicing somewhere in this church. Rose however was now staring at her parents with her mouth wide open dreading how his new exchange, based on another misunderstanding, between her parents would go. Pete got up off his chair and swallowed. Once more Jackie had the wrong idea and Pete desperately needed his wife to be on the same page as him. Not even sure how he was going to convince or clarify, whatever this whole situation was to Jackie. Carefully he began,

"Jacks, listen. This is Rose." Pete saw the look of disgust on Jackie's face and knew that she had gotten the wrong idea again.

"Rose? How sick is that? You give my daughter a second hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?" Demanded Jackie accusingly. Pete had now had it with Jackie thinking the worst of him. She had not been forced to marry him so why would she have done so in the first place if he was so untrustworthy to her? This woman drove Pete crazy, and yet he would go crazy without her, how funny. But seriously, he was growing tired of the misunderstandings. It had been a challenging day to say the least. He was not some cad with children from several different women. Now realizing that he had to spell it out for his wife he grabbed their baby from his wife's arms.

"Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!" Pete shouted and hoping if they were placed side by side that Jackie would see the obvious resemblance that the young woman Rose and baby Rose had in common. He then placed the baby into Rose's lap who Rose then took hold of in her arms out of reflex. Unfortunately Rose had forgotten the Doctor's warning but he had not. The Doctor hoping it wouldn't be too late raced to Rose side to take away the baby to avoid a paradox.

"Rose! No!" Shouted the Doctor, but it was too late. The two beings had touched and no sooner did he snatch the baby away from Rose and given her back to her mother, a creature appeared inside the church. The paradox had done its work. The monsters had become stronger and now one was able to get inside to attack more people within the church. The Doctor looked at the creature in fear as scared wedding guests ran for the back of the church to escape the feared creature.

"Everyone, behind me! I'm the oldest thing in here." Shouted the Doctor to the humans as he put his arms up in defense. Meaning that just as an old building had served them as shelter from the monsters so would the Doctor shield them. It was all he could do now, his final act would be to protect Rose, her family and friends.

"Doctor!" Screamed Rose as the creature pounced onto the last of the Time Lords and consumed him without delay. Sickening crunching noises could be heard from the creature that turned a few peoples' stomachs. It was over so fast that Rose had neither the time to look away or even time for it to register what had just happened to the Doctor. Having eaten its meal the monster than flew around the room looking for more victims, but in doing so it flew too close to the TARDIS and accidently touched it in the process. The TARDIS and the creature then vanished leaving nothing but the key on the floor that had been placed in the TARDIS' Yale lock earlier by the Doctor. With the creature gone the people in the church began to calm down. Rose however was in shock, what had she just seen? Her mind focused to the familiar flash of light on the floor. The TARDIS key. She ran over to it and picked it up. Although once it was burning hot to the touch, now it was as cold as death. The key was linked to the TARDIS and the TARDIS was linked to the Doctor, and if it was gone then so was the Doctor.

"It's cold. The key's cold. Oh, my God, My husband's dead." Whispered Rose in disbelief. Pete had followed Rose down the aisle and at seeing his daughter so upset moved to comfort her but Rose pulled away and looked at her father traumatized but with clarity in her eyes.

"This is all my fault. Both of you. All of you. The whole world." Declared Rose devastated. Rose put her arms down in self defeat and Pete threw his arms around his distraught child and she began to cry as the two clung to each other. She had done it all, she was the death of not only her husband but soon the world. How could she have messed up so bad that she, one person, had brought about the end of the world so easily? It was staggering information to digest and it only made Rose cry harder at all the lives she had cost by her actions. As if the knowledge of the end of the world coming was not enough something seemed to be blotting out the sun and the frightened humans were thrown into the deepest despair yet. One of the guests, Bev, upon observing the celestial impossibility in the sky cried out in despair,

"This is it. There's nothing we can do. It's the end."

**Author's Notes:** BUM BUM BUMMMMM! Poor Rose, How many times can she be widowed? As usual comments are appreciated and get my fingers moving faster, heh.


	40. Ch 40- Father's Day Part IV: The Tipping

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 40 – Father's Day Part IV: The Tipping Point **

The creatures were scraping at the stonework outside and from the looks of it they would be inside soon enough. With the mysterious Doctor now dead all hope was lost. The day was suppose to just be an irritating and unnecessarily stressful day due to attending a wedding, but at least it probably would have ended with a nice party, music and food. A typical, predictable wedding day celebration, but oh how unpredictable this day had become. Instead the day had put Pete on bad terms with his wife while waiting for death. Not only that but he had been introduced to his daughter from the future and met her husband too. Then painfully he had to watch his daughter's heart be broken when that husband was devoured by a monster. What a day, well being on bad terms with his wife was predictable but he hadn't done anything to deserve it today. Pete looked glumly out the vestry window. 'Why couldn't the world end at least when it was sunny out?' thought Pete sarcastically.

Pete's musing was interrupted when suddenly he saw that car from before again, the one that seemed to have his name on it. As he watched the car drive around the corner again and again from the vestry window it was at that moment he realized that it did indeed have his name on it. That was the car that would have hit him if Rose had not saved him. Rose was not supposed to have saved him and that was what had caused this whole mess. That was why the Doctor had been angry at Rose, she had broken the laws of time to save him. The Doctor didn't want him to be dead. He had just known that this was what would happen. But if the Doctor had seen that car before along with him, then he would have had to of pieced together that that car was meant to hit him. He would have known right away the Doctor knew the rules of time after all. His Daughter's husband had given his life to protect him from harm for Rose's sake, even though he knew the consequences. The Doctor could have done a quick fix and just dragged him out to the curb and thrown him in front of the car, but he had not. Even though Rose had obviously angered the Doctor before, he was still trying to protect her and her happiness at the risk of everything else. Quite the man his little girl had married, maybe he wasn't so bad a candidate for son-in-law after all. Well he would have been if he wasn't now dead. That was when it occurred to Pete that now there was no one to protect Rose anymore, except the one person who should have been her first protector for her whole life, her father. But if he did what he was planning to do that meant that he would not get to protect Rose growing up. He had to die right now to save everything and everyone that he held dear. Pete swallowed, he didn't want to die, no one wanted to but he had to do it. He had to do it for his little Rose and his grown up Rose too.

Pete stood up straight and committed himself to his decision. He then headed back into the main hall of the church where everyone remaining seemed to be quietly praying for salvation from the grim future ahead. He walked past them and over to Rose, who was sitting on her own. She looked so sad Pete thought, but if he did this then maybe everything would get put back in order. He didn't know if the Doctor or anyone who was eaten would come back or if Rose even had a way back to her home time now, but he could at least ensure that she lived long enough to try and build another future for herself.

"The Doctor really loved you. I sort of like him, not a bad choice, though I still think he's too old…Anyway, he didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't." Explained Pete to his distressed daughter as he put on his jacket and tidied himself up for what would be his death. He really wished that he was going to die wearing something else but at least he was sure he wouldn't be buried in it.

"What are you talking about?" Asked a confused Rose as she stood up to face her father.

"The car that should have killed me, love. It's here. The Doctor worked it out way back, but he, er, he tried to protect me. Still, he's not in charge anymore. I am." Declared Pete, Rose was taken aback by the information, not only had the Doctor sacrificed himself and the safety of the universe for her, but now yet another man was going to sacrifice himself for her. Rose had already lost the Doctor and she didn't know if he would even return if things were put back to the way they would have been if Rose had not interfered. She couldn't lose her father as well. She had only just met him and now she was losing him.

"But you can't." Choked Rose to her father in tears. Pete smiled sympathetically to his daughter though he was clearly scared himself and put his hand back on her cheek like he had earlier and asked his daughter,

"Who am I, love?" Rose still fighting back tears muttered,

"My daddy." Rose then saw her mother approaching and expecting yet another hurtful reproach took a timid step back bracing her heart and her ears for the shouting that would follow. Jackie however was a bit more reserved perhaps now her rage had quieted and she was ready to listen. Pete guided her over and smiled to his wife,

"Jackie, look at her. She's ours." Jackie looked at first shocked by her husband's declaration, 'How could that be?' She thought. Then Jackie for the first time today took a good look at the woman who had been with her husband all day. Staring at her she recognized her and her husband's features on the young woman and with imagination she saw the aged appearance of her little baby girl. Somehow this was Rose, her Rose, all grown up! Why had she not seen it earlier, even through her anger?

"Oh, of course." Jackie gasped in full recognition and hugged her child. Jackie then thought back to all the hurtful things she had said to Rose today and felt the overwhelming urge to comfort her clearly distraught daughter. She held on tighter to her weeping daughter who was obviously relieved at finally being accepted. Jackie let go of Rose and then looked to her husband for further explanation, she clearly was missing part of the puzzle.

"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie. You're going to get rid of me at last." Pete stated sadly, but with a bit of humor.

"Don't say that." Scolded Jackie who was hurt by the statement and not quite understanding what Pete was getting at now of all times.

"For once in your life, trust me. It's got be done. You've got to survive, because you've got to bring up our daughter." Declared Pete to his wife and kissed her a loving but sad goodbye. Pete then piped up his energy and turned his attention to his impossibly amazing child and held her hands.

"I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you." He stated the facts that he knew were true. Rose tearfully defended that he would have been if he was able to. Pete looked at his daughter and he felt so blessed, he had been unsuccessful in business in his short life but in being a father he was not going to be. He would succeed. He was going to be the best dad he could be literally until the day he died. He was going to give his daughter what every parent wanted for them, the world.

"But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now." Said Pete proudly that he could honestly say that.

"But it's not fair." Coughed Rose, he shouldn't have to die just to save her. Pete however saw it differently, if Rose had not come to save him he would have died without ever knowing what was to come. He had been given a look into the future and got to see what no man who was dead ever would, extra time and a look into what happens next!

"I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I got to see you. And you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh?" Explained Pete to his daughter. The man then straightened up and took on the manner of a very fatherly and brave figure. He was probably acting braver than he actually felt but a Dad has to do what a Dad has to do.

"So, come on, do as your dad says." Rose still sobbing handed her father the 'stupid vase' and he asked for reassurance that she would be there for him. Rose nodded shakily and Pete put his hand once more to Rose's cheek and guided her eyes to his.

"Thanks for saving me." Pete smiled gratefully. He, Jackie and Rose then shared the only family hug that they would ever have again and like a shot Pete ran off to face his fate.

Pete with his vase warily ran to the front gates of the church's property catching a glimpse of the horrible creatures above. He looked about the road and did not see the car but he did see that he had been spotted. The man stood frozen in fear of the monster over his head until he saw the car appearing around the corner! With purpose he bolted for the corner. He hoped that this would work. If he was quick he could still catch it. What morbid thought he mused as he ran out into the street into the car's path. Seeing Pete come out of nowhere the driver flung his arm across his face, not wanting to see what would happen next. Pete's final words to himself were a 'goodbye' to his daughter and he closed his eyes. After a sickening thump the vase dropped to the sidewalk and broke. Pete had been hit by the car and the creatures vanished now that fate had been settled.

Rose had run out of the church to its doors after her father had left but went no further, the monsters had still been out and this was a path she could not follow her dad. She had seen him run for the car and had shut her eyes once more, unable to witness him being hit. Rose heard the car's abrupt stop and the disgusting thud that followed, she was paralyzed with what her imagination was seeing and did not move. The Doctor who now, like everyone else, had been restored to life appeared at her side, he knew what had happened. Tenderly he placed his hand on her shoulder and instructed her to go to her father and quick. She had so little time left in a few moments he would be dead.

Rose jetted to her dying father as fast as her legs could carry her. Not even acknowledging the stunned driver who this time had stopped at the scene, rather than driving away. Rose kneeled down to her father's side and pulled him over into what she hoped was a more comfortable position. Rose looked gratefully and sadly into his eyes. Pete gazed back into her eyes and putting his head back on to the pavement quietly and peacefully died.

By now the rest of the wedding party had come out to investigate the noise outside and to their horror saw Pete lying in the road. Rose suddenly recalled her mother telling her that a woman was with her father when he died and held his hand so he didn't die alone, but her mother never found out who that woman was because she had left so suddenly. Realizing that she had been that girl, she kissed her father farewell before standing up. She looked at her father a few moments more, he had been the greatest father any child could have ever hoped for and she was thankful that she had been given the gift of finally meeting him, the most wonderful man on Earth. Even if it was for only a few hours, it was more hours than she ever thought she would have again. She then looked ahead of herself and saw through her tear soaked eyes that the Doctor had, while she was not looking, come to stand near her and was waiting for her. His eyes were quiet and full of understanding and a desire to offer comfort to her. Rose walked to the Doctor and without a word he took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He then led her away from her father's body back to the TARDIS which seemed to have rematerialized herself at the end of the street. The Doctor opened the door with his free hand and let Rose in.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor let go of Rose's hand and began to put the TARDIS into the Vortex. He looked over to Rose as he moved about the console and saw that she clearly didn't seem to know what to do with herself. If the tears rolling down her face was anything to go on, he imagined that she would need some time to recover before their next adventure. He set the TARDIS up for just drifting and made a decision as he pulled the last lever.

Not having a hand to hold anymore Rose put her hands into her pockets and watched the Doctor work. Rose felt something metal in her pocket and pulled it out, it was the TARDIS key she had picked up before, her key. Well it had been her key anyway before the Doctor had demanded for it back. She felt like she was doing something wrong by having it and thought that she should return it. Rose waited for the Doctor to be done and taking a swallowing breath walked up to the Doctor and still with tears in her eyes from earlier she held out the key and said,

"Here is your key back, Doctor. I picked it up off the floor after you were…." The Doctor closed Rose's hands around the key and very softly answered,

"Hold on to it. It's yours anyway. I should have never taken it away from you." Rose felt relief from that statement though her eyes were still wet from the emotional rollercoaster she had just been on. 'He wasn't angry about anything.' thought Rose as she let out a sigh of relief. Rose looked at the Doctor amazed at the day they had had. She also remembered what her father had said to her, even though the Doctor knew how to fix the problem he had been trying to find a way around it just to protect her father. He had done it all just for her, she had never seen him try to change fate for anyone else. She was beginning to believe what a few days she would have thought was impossible.

'He loves me. He loves me, I know that now. There is no mistaking it. He just can't say it yet in words.' Rose thought. But he had said he loved her in actions. The whole day he had thrown the rules of time out the window just for her. He had tried to bend fate just for the sake of her personal happiness. Who could do that and not love her? There was not a single doubt in her mind and her love for him evolved to a level she didn't even know existed. He didn't say that he loved her and maybe he never would, but she knew he did. From that moment The Doctor noticed a change in Rose or rather her going back to normal. The same biochemistry that had existed in her when he had become the Doctor again was back and maybe stronger. And he couldn't have been more relieved.

"Come on. It's been a long day." Stated the Doctor. Rose thought that this was the Doctor's cue to tell her to go to bed, and frankly after today she needed the rest. She'd probably have another good cry when she closed her eyes to sleep and images of her father came to mind or maybe she'd dream of him. Either way she was in for a rather melancholy night. She made to leave but the Doctor held on to her right hand as she turned. Still holding her hand he led her down the hall to her room.

'It was very nice of him to walk me to my room this time', Rose had thought, especially since he normally never did. She had been through a lot today and she guessed that he didn't want her alone just yet until he knew that she would be alright. Which Rose was also amazed by since it seems too domestic for him and out of his way. A little more walking and they had now reached the door, but to Rose's amazement the Doctor still had not let go of her hand. 'Okay this is where we part ways now,' thought Rose expectantly, only to be floored when the Doctor opened the door for her. The Doctor let go of her hand as she walked in and she heard the click of the door closing.

'That was very polite of him.' thought Rose to herself as she walked further in. Then to Rose's amazement when she turned around, there was the Doctor. He had not closed the door on the outside, he had closed it on the inside. The Doctor followed her into her, well technically their room and her heart raced. What was he up to? Was she crying that much that he didn't want to leave her? She just wanted to know before she got her hopes up. The Doctor saw her surprised expression and was afraid he might have overstepped his welcome. After all he had been so mean to Rose today that he shouldn't assume that she would be okay with him keeping her company in their bedroom… her bedroom. So in a cautious voice he asked,

"Is this okay?" Rose nodded a bit nervously and replied,

"Yeah, of course. It's your room too, if you want to come into it that is." Rose looked at the Doctor not knowing what he was going to do next. John had been more predictable but the Doctor was a wild card. Did he need something in the room? Why was he in here? He never expressed an interest in being in here before? Not that she minded him being in here it just was unusual for her husband to be in her bedroom. That was an odd thing to say about your husband. Rose's mind was still racing when her thoughts were interrupted by the Doctor suggesting that she should get changed in the loo and ready for bed. Was she that sad looking that he was going to tuck her in too, she wondered? At the same time Rose was finding herself really confused she was also getting a bit excited as she walked into the bathroom. And after her day any emotion besides sad was welcomed. She closed the door to the bath room and looking about she wondered, what should she wear? What were the Doctor's intentions? What if she accidentally picked an outfit that made him uncomfortable? Rose began to panic but then saw on the counter of the bathroom vanity a pair of comfy TARDIS blue flannel pajamas. They looked so warm and inviting. Rose reasoned that the TARDIS wouldn't lead her wrong and she put on the already pre-warmed jimjams. It was like a warm hug and she couldn't help but feel like the TARDIS was trying to tell her that things would be alright. And she didn't have to worry because whatever was coming up would most likely be casual comfortable just like the pajamas.

When Rose emerged from the dimly lit bathroom all washed up she noticed that the lights in the room had been turned down by the TARDIS and it was very dark. But Rose knew her way well enough that she made it to the large bed easily and climbed in. The Doctor must have left while she was getting changed. Disappointing but understandable she thought, though a part of her had wanted company. Still she couldn't believe that she had actually been silly enough to think that he was planning to stay. Why would he stay when he doesn't sleep, ha? She curled up on the side of the bed that had been traditionally hers back in her married human days and tried to get comfortable. Rose was getting comfortable and ready to drift off to sleep when she suddenly felt a cool hand hold her own hand. Startled she jerked back in surprise. Rose looked to the side of her bed trying to adjust her eyes to the lack of light. She then heard a click and she saw a mahogany nightstand with a turn of the last century lamp on it. 'That had not been there before. Yeah?' asked Rose of herself. What surprised her more was the hand that was touching the switch of said lamp and that hand belonged to the Doctor.

"Hello." Said the Doctor plainly and then smiled. Rose was surprised to see him but then smiled too. He had been sitting in a reclining chair that looked old but obviously had some modern easy-boy traits to it. This was strange since she could have sworn the only thing that resembled chairs in the room were claw footed and older looking. In fact where he had been sitting conveniently the light from the bathroom did not seem to have fallen. Was the TARDIS playing a trick on her? Rose now very baffled said the same 'hello' back to the Doctor. 'Had he been there the whole time? He could have said something earlier.' Wondered Rose and before she could form a question to ask the Doctor he declared,

"Sorry, I thought you knew I was here… Just thought I'd sit here and rest a while. I didn't mean to startle you, I can leave if you want. Figured that you might want some company tonight." Which was true, he didn't want to leave her alone after such a day, she needed companionship more than he did as far as he was concerned right now.

"No, you can stay. I was just a little surprised when you held my hand is all, I didn't see you." Answered Rose, the Doctor laughed a bit and stated,

"Right sorry, The TARDIS gave me the seat and she turned off the overhead lights… just assumed that this was part of your nightly routine and didn't want to interrupt. I guess I forget human's eyes are a bit slower to adjust to darkness than Time Lords, you know sometimes I forget that you're human and…" The Doctor stopped, Rose stared at him, did he really say that he forgot that she was human? Did that mean that he saw her as one of his own from time to time? Rose was seeing a side of the Doctor that until now was concealed from her. Usually the Doctor was always flaunting his superior biology to her, well he still was, but at least it sounded like he was giving something that resembled a compliment.

"Yeah, I didn't see you." Rose admitted and laughed. Relieved that he had not bothered her, the Doctor asked another question,

"I can stay here and hold your hand if you need me to. Do you want me to?" Rose thought of the idea of the Doctor, her husband actually wanting to spend time together in the room that was supposed to be theirs. And while holding her hand as she slept. Though he wasn't in bed with her he was still lying next to her just in a chair. Rose scooted up closer to the edge of the bed and declared,

"I want you to." Rose and the Doctor then held hands again and Rose still smiling closed her eyes and went back to a contented sleep never letting go of the Doctor's hand. As long as she could hold his hand then she would be alright.

000 DW 000

Rose was having a great day so far. She arrived on time for work. And she was feeling extra confident with her date lined up for tonight. She was still dressed comfortably casual but she had dolled up a bit more for the evening. Rose looked at her reflection in the shop glass window and approved if her look. Looking past the windows reflection she remembered that there were midterms today for history so most likely that crowd building up in front of the doors was last minute exam scantrons buyers, but that just meant the day would go faster with less quiet time. There was also no new stock to shelve tonight and John would most likely be here soon. She'd only get to see him a minute but that was enough to make her happy for the day. She was drunk on love and nothing could spoil her mood. Or so she thought. The crowd of 40 people just walked clear past her register to the back where the exam sheets were kept. This left the front of the store quiet enough to hear some chatter from customers not there to buy exam sheets. Two older women who rose recognized from John's department were walking into the store for what appeared to be a chocolate run. They were talking gossip and didn't seem to care who heard. Often she found that staff seemed invisible to the teaching staff. It had been one of the reasons why she had been skeptical about her and John's chances for dating at first.

"No, I have not seen her yet. One of his students told me about her just yesterday evening."

"Are you sure she's not a student? That's often the way these things happen."

"Well, if she is I assure you that my pupil did not recognize her from class. In fact he said that he believed her to be a dinner lady on campus or something like that. She spent all day in his office during his hours and my student saw them leave campus together too."

"Is she some pretty young thing? That's often how these things go." Asked the other woman.

"Yes, my student said she is. Little slag young thing. Probably a gold digger."

"Men. Sorry, Rachael. I know that you had designs on John. But men are men and are always out for young legs to get between. Do you remember how Bella from history's husband ran off with a shop girl of all things? Shameful and they had kids too."

"I thought that John was seeing reason and would have asked me to play soon at least. I'm a refined educated woman and he goes after the university's equivalent of the help. He would make a nice feather in my cap if I could get him. He is so smart a little persuasion from a lover to get that genius to write a book and we could be set for life."

"Shame, that is. Maybe he just sees you as a bit unreachable, you could put out a bit more to him. Surely he'd wouldn't turn someone as good looking as you away, you've always had nice legs. But when it gets out he's dating a young dinner lady. I'm sure that the scandal alone will get him on the right path. And looking for more work appropriate prospects." The other woman laughed to her colleague.

"I'll just swoop down and put on my charm. All he needs is to know a real woman and I'll lead him around easily. Let him have his fun. He'll see sense soon enough with the right pressures. He won't ruin himself once the rumor mill gets started. A whisper here, a statement there, it will be almost as bad as if he were screwing a student." Said Rachael with confidence.

"Surely you couldn't know by now if he is sleeping with her?!" Asked the woman in disbelief. Rachael rolled her eyes and stated,

"What else is he going to do off campus with such a young little uneducated tart? Have an intelligent conversation? I think not, they probably are making the beast with two backs at some hotel. Though I think spreading around that he's doing such things on campus would be just as damning. He probably is. I couldn't see him bringing her home to that nice house of his. Remember the party he held there for when Professor Martin joined the physics department? I was Professor Holloway's date that night. He's not going to ruin such nice furniture on a dinner lady slag no matter how blond. He's probably paying her anyway it's not like John is too good a looker. He's charming to be sure but if they don't have looks then they have to have money to keep my interest."

"You deduced all this about his transgressions and you are still set on having such a man?" questioned Rachael's companion. Money was one thing but she personally would not have a man that fools around. She'd seen too many marriages fall apart because someone had a wander eye and she would not have that for herself. Besides who knows where the slag had been.

"I'll get him. Besides, what do I care if he fools around once or twice as long as the money comes in and he knows who he's coming home to?" she smirked with confidence. She would have John yet.

The woman then bought their gourmet chocolate at Rose's register, not even making eye contact with her and left. Rose was trying to keep down tears after being talked of so poorly then her tears went hot with anger at being slighted so. She thought of John. She didn't think that people would object like this to her dating him. Personally she had been more worried about what John thought then others. She didn't want to scandalize or damage John's career if there were people like that who would stab him in the back just for going out with her. She would have to discuss this with John later. She never thought of this before and she needed to know what John thought of this situation. That was when John came merrily through the door. Her heart sunk at the torture she would have to endure until this evening as there was no way she could discuss such a topic now. Not with a line now ending at the back of the shop. John spotted her at the register and expressed in his eyes condolences for the larger crowd. She waved it off, no big deal. Knowing that she was busy he very quickly walked up to her and said,

"I meant to be your first customer but I got held up by a student down the way by the physics building.

"Please, Lady Rose, accept this token as apology for my TARDIS…er…I mean tardiness." he then produced a small white flower and placed it in her hand before kissing her on the cheek. It was not the season for flowers so obviously it must have been from the potted planters she knew were kept in the lobby of the physics building. A few of the professor actually had a green thumb and loved there little lobby garden. John then gave Rose an eyebrow waggle which made her laugh and then he was off as he obviously had not the time today before his first class to wait on a line as long as today's as much as he would have liked to just to spend more time with her.

Rose quickly put the white flower in her Hair and the girl she was helping online expressed that she thought it looked pretty on her as she was rung up. Rose was just thankful that her customers seemed to be patient today. Rose still felt awful from what she had overheard but she would bring it up with John tonight. After all she was a grown woman and visibly more mature then those 'seasoned women' who had minds that clearly never left high school. She just hoped that she and John could find a solution to handle any scandals that their relationship would bring up. At least she wasn't his student. That she had going for her. Everything had to wait until this evening over dinner.

Unfortunately rose and John did not have matching breaks that day and Rose had all day alone for the irrational part of her brain to battle the rational over the situation. She liked John and was most likely falling for him, but she didn't want her happiness at the cost of his career that is if that woman, Rachael, really could somehow damage his reputation.

The long wait was over for Rose. Her shift was over and John would show up any minute to pick her up for their date. So why was she upset? Because rather than focusing on the good time she was going to have, she was thinking about the topic she had to discuss with John about people who could make their newly defined relationship a possible liability to John's career. At this point she was sure that John held very strong feelings for her, but could they survive a threat to his promising career and all he had worked for? She didn't want to question her self-worth. Not after hearing those two cows talking about her like that, but they had put thoughts into her head asking, why a professor would waste time on a shop girl? Especially when she was one hundred percent sure that he wasn't dating her just to bring her to his bed? He'd already had two opportunities to take advantage of her and he had been the perfect gentleman. Whatever he saw in her she clearly wasn't in the mindset to see and she would have to discuss this with him tonight. Which probably was going to put a damper on the mood for the evening, but she couldn't keep quiet while such thoughts ate her alive. Not only that but a relationship is based on trust and if she trusted him, which she did, then she wouldn't keep secrets from them. They had been friends first, so it wasn't like she was telling a man he just met all her secrets, this was John. A man she knew for a while now, so naturally discussing any problems they might have to face should come up in the relationship.

Rose exited the front door to the shop and waited for John to arrive. She however began to worry as it was now five minutes past the time that he had said he would be by. The young woman's mind which was now paranoid by the thoughts that had been spinning in her head all day began to worry. What if those two horrible women somehow already got to John and he's not coming? What if John stands me up because that cow, Rachael, went for the direct approach and threatened to spread rumors that he was somehow having an inappropriate relationship? Her worries would prove groundless because it was three minutes later when she saw John round the corner with his arms behind his back. Rose felt a ping of guilt for having doubted him. He was only 8 minutes late, not even ten. She was about to apologize for thinking that he stood her up when John beat her to it.

"I'm sorry 'm late, Rose. But I got a good excuse." John declared. He then pulled out from behind his back a small bouquet of flowers just like the now wilting flower in her hair.

"Mrs. Fletcher, the department secretary, was helping me put together a little bouquet for you after she found out that I messily picked one for you this morning. The stems are all neatly clipped and they have a damp rag about them so they should last long enough for you to get them home and in a vase later tonight." Smile Doctor John Smith. Rose took the flowers amazed that he went to the trouble and gave him kiss on the cheek to mirror the one he had given her earlier that day.

"Thank you, John. I love them! And you are right, this is a good excuse." Said Rose. She then turned her head to the side and thought about the topic she had wanted to discuss all day. Did she really want to ruin the mood now? Well she wouldn't have any fun tonight if this issue was sitting on her chest anyway.

"John, I need to be honest to you about something I overheard today involving you..." announced Rose.

"Hmm, about me?" Questioned John. As the two walked to John's car, Rose told John everything. About the two women who were talking about her. About the rumors they would spread. The damage Rose worried that such rumors about their current relationship could have on his career. About how one of them saw him as their meal ticket. How they unknowingly called her a slag and made her question what John would see in an uneducated shop girl like her. John was quite frankly very disturbed by this information and stopped just in front of his car and turned Rose around to face him. John was momentarily struck dumb by Rose's beauty that showed through her upset tears and took in a deep breath. He also couldn't help but make the comparison that with Rose standing there holding the little bouquet of white flowers in both hands in front of her how she resembled the vision of a bride before him. His ears tinged red for an instant and John in a serious voice declared,

"Rose, my fantastic Rose... I am so sorry that you had to endure any of that today. That woman has been at me for a while now. But as you have quite unfortunately witnessed firsthand, she is a terrible creature and I'm sorry to share the same department with her. You are 901 times the woman she could ever hope to be, and she obviously is jealous of you and she hasn't even seen you yet. I care for you with all my hearts and she can do nothing that would make me stop doing so or seeing you. I'm giving that woman a piece of mind tomorrow and I don't care who hears it. No one insults, Rose Tyler. I want you to banish all thoughts of you ever damaging my career because you cannot. There is no way no matter how clever this witch thinks she can be against me because I am far cleverer. And as for rumors, no one important would ever believe the office slag, because that's what she is a slag. You my dear are a lady and a damn smart one at that. Just because someone has an expensive piece of paper that says you are smart doesn't mean you are or that you put those smarts to good use. You are as smart as any PHD in my book and as a matter of fact I enjoy talking to you because I can actually have an intelligent and casual conversation with you. I am amazed with how you pick up the slack so fast when I tell you about a topic. Some of my students just stare with an open mouth but you absorb and throw back questions. Rose, if you ever get the chance you should continue your schooling because you would be brilliant!"

Rose was stunned. She had never been so complimented before in her life. She then started blushing under John's adoring eyes like a school girl and tried to hide her blushing cheeks behind the flowers. John pulled her hands down and wordlessly begged her not to hide her face from him. Rose complied and John gave her a devilish smiled followed by a quick peck this time on the lips.

"Now come on, Rose Tyler. Our date has officially begun. Since you seem to think a proper date ends with a kiss then I think it should begin with one too. Onward to Italian food!" Declared John as he opened his car door for Rose. She laughed and then climbed into Bessie. The two then drove off to have another fantastic evening together with no bad news hanging over their heads."

**Author's Notes:** Well her Dad just died, of course the Doctor wouldn't want to leave her alone. I know that this chapter is very flashback heavy. I hope that no one is upset by that, I just like writing these little short story flashbacks about John and Rose's relationship. As usual tell me what you think, please.


	41. Chapter 41 – It's Mardi Gras

Complicated

By The Plot Thinens

Chapter 41 – **It's** **Mardi Gras**

Rose had indeed dreamt of her father that night. They had been on a picnic and now that they had actually met she guessed her subconscious could make him up in her head better. Rose had been put off at first but Pete assured her that he being dead didn't mean he wanted to stop watching after her.

"How you holding up?" Pete asked as he passed chips in a basket to her.

"Considering? I'd say well the Doctor has been keeping me company." Answered Rose.

"Told you he loves ya. And who couldn't? Man would have to be off his rocker not to." Joked Pete. Rose laughed at her father's antics while nibbling on her food.

"I was crying a lot I guess he couldn't stand to see a grown girl cry and that's why he stayed with me tonight." stated rose plainly.

"Yeah or maybe he couldn't stand to see his wife cry." Suggested Pete.

"I was surprised…It's a bit more comfort and attention then he's been volunteering lately." Admitted Rose sadly.

"See you're wearing him down and winning him over." Grinned her father.

"Are you sure it's not just cause you just died that he feels the need to feel sorry for me and be nice?" Questioned Rose, not thinking that she should read too much into the Doctor's actions.

"All I'm saying is he wouldn't break rules he seems set in if you didn't mean something to him." Declared Pete as he popped a fry into his mouth.

"Yeah, I guess. Cola?" Asked Rose offering him a drink.

"Yes please. Now let's finish this up, someone is telling me that you have a heck of a day today." Stated Pete as he took a quick swig of his drink.

"You mean I don't even get a break after you died?" Pouted Rose.

"Oh, don't go moping around. Distraction is good for you on occasion. Anyway, I'll see you again soon enough." Smiled Pete. Rose leaned back a bit nervous.

"Not too soon I hope." Inquired Rose warily.

"Ha, I didn't mean it like that, you cheeky girl. Come on wake up." Laughed Pete and Rose began to return to the waking world.

The Doctor had been awake for an hour now and it was a good thing too. Otherwise he might have risked Rose catching him dozing. Was he taking mimicking human sleeping patterns as a hobby now? Well he'd had worse hobbies. He had sat up in his reclining chair earlier and saw that Rose was cuddling his hand to her chest like a teddy bear. The Doctor blushed and tried to move her hand and his to a less intimate location than Rose's chest, while trying to distract himself with thoughts of his days adventuring with the bear's namesake, Teddy Roosevelt. Suddenly the TARDIS jumped and the Doctor was thrown from his chair. Fortunately, Rose was only bounced on the bed as she had let go in the impact.

"What the…" Said the Doctor out loud and he then ran to the TARDIS console, leaving a very confused Rose behind on the bed. Rose looked about the now brightened room and ran for the door only to find it locked. She pulled at the door and called for the Doctor as she suspected that he had a hand in this. She pulled a few more times and in frustration turned around and looked at the room. On her bed was a change of comfortable summer clothing just right for a day of wandering about. Along next to it was what appeared to be a continental breakfast. 'Well whatever was the problem, it obviously wasn't serious enough that she couldn't eat and get dressed first', thought Rose. Rose prepared herself for the day and now ready for whatever came next she found that the door to the bedroom was unlocked. Effortlessly she passed through and made her way to the console room where she saw the Doctor observing the video feed from the computer screen on the TARDIS console.

"So what's the emergency?" Asked Rose. The Doctor couldn't help but notice that she was wearing a very lovely low cut light pink shirt, which showed off her figure, and skinny jeans that hugged her hips. Trying not to be caught staring at her chest he looked at her feet and quietly complimented her comfortable looking sneakers. Looking to change the subject in his head from what Rose was wearing he looked at the TARDIS console video feed.

"Well not an emergency that I can tell, but the TARDIS seems to have landed herself." Answered the Doctor, he just wished she'd give a warning next time she felt like traveling on her own.

"Where to?" Inquired Rose, to which the Doctor replied,

"Year 12105. New Orleans. Well the planet is called that but the city is New New Orleans." Rose scratched her head and asked,

"Wasn't that where we dropped off Jack?"

"It seems the TARDIS has decided that his shore leave is over. Time to pick him up. Hope he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble." Stated the Doctor, who was trying very hard to mask his disappointment. He would be happy to see Jack again but at the same time he was just starting to get used to his alone time with Rose. With Jack back in the mix he didn't know if he could be as open to Rose as he had been lately with an audience. Especially with an audience like Jack.

"Honeymoons over then…" Joked Rose before she realized what she was saying. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked to the Doctor who she could tell was now uncomfortable and his ears were pinking. She could feel him putting up his wall again and this up set her.

"I mean Jack said he was going to marry the TARDIS, it was a joke." She laughed off and the Doctor seemed to bristle.

"Well he's not marrying my TARDIS." Harrumphed the Doctor. He then made his way for the door. He saw that they had landed in a quiet alley but he was aware that this was a party planet practically all year round and they would be swarmed by merrymakers before they knew it. In fact it was probably even going to be more crowded because it was the Mardi Gras celebration.

"Stay close to me, Rose. Or you might get lost in the crowd." The Doctor warned as they stepped out into the slightly balmy air. Rose was grateful for the comfortable clothes that the TARDIS had provided her with. She would have looked quite silly walking around here in her pajamas. They turned the corner and indeed they were greeted with a wall of happy looking tourists traveling in groups, families, alone and in all levels of intoxication. Well maybe pajamas wouldn't be so strange when she saw some costumes that street entertainers were wearing. The Doctor looked at his watch and the sun had clearly only just set and people were already piss drunk. And somewhere among these hedonists was the king of all hedonism, Captain Jack Harkness.

"Like trying to find a needle in a hay stack." Noted Rose as she looked about,

"Does he have a mobile like I do?" Asked Rose.

"No," sighed the Doctor and he was beginning to think that the next thing he should do when he found Jack was put a tracking device on him. He only hoped that the TARDIS had landed them close to Jack. They began to shift through the crowd. The Doctor was clearly all business but Rose was enjoying the touristy and friendly atmosphere while keeping an eye out for Jack. Spotting a row of bars up ahead the Doctor figured that he could ask the bar tender if he had noticed anyone like Jack. Jack was after all hard to forget.

"What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech he has on him or something?" Asked Rose as she looked around some more for their wayward companion.

"Rose, we are surrounded by all forms of alien tech, a vortex manipulator although rarer is still going to be just a spit in the bucket among such a diverse collection of people. I'm going to ask." Said The Doctor and then showed Rose his psychic paper ID, Rose looked at the paper and read,

"Doctor John Smith, Missing people's investigation association." Rose looked into the Doctor's eyes in a manner that the Doctor mistook for confusion when really it was just shock.

"It's psychic paper. It tells you…" Stated the Doctor to which, Rose interrupted,

"Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember. It just it caught me off guard because…" The Doctor was about to apologize for upsetting Rose, but was interrupted when they were shoved through the door of the bar roughly, but not maliciously by some over enthusiastic bar patrons. The Doctor eyes everyone with suspicion for the accidental jarring, but once he realized that it was accidental he relaxed and moved up to the bartender leaving Rose standing in the middle of the filled but not packed bar. Rose found a seat vacant in front of the open air window in front of the bar and sat to just watch the people go by while the Doctor took care of business. There was a cool breeze there that contrasted the body heat inside the clamoring bar. Rose closed her eyes and breathed in the night air while listening to music from the small live band inside.

The window seating was meant to draw the eyes of people on the street as a clever means to attract patrons. See people drinking and having fun? Well come on in and maybe you can have fun too. She was sitting there, without knowing it, like a lovely doll in a shop window. The twilight lighting from inside framed her like an angel as she looked about eventually drawing her eyes skyward to watch the oddly colored sky. Rose was reminded of her star gazing trips with John and wondered if she could get the Doctor to take her someplace less populated on this planet to relax and watch the stars unobstructed by light pollution. As she sat there musing it was then that Rose ran into trouble.

"Hey good looking." Said a voice to the side of Rose that was standing on the outside of the open air window. Rose turned her head and saw a group of what appeared to be intoxicated young men some looking humanish and some not. They were covered in plastic-looking bead necklaces and were wearing some novelty hats she had seen other people wearing earlier. They were clearly tourist looking for a good time. Rose smiled and waved trying to dismiss them, but that only gave them encouragement. One of the men then pulled off a beaded necklace from around his neck and snickering handed it to her. Rose smiled, said thanks and put it around her neck. She wanted to believe that people were just friendly around here but the way the men were now ogling her suggested differently. She felt more like a piece of meat in front of wild dogs than a person right now.

"Well?" Asked the young man impatiently and looking like he was expecting something in return. Rose looked confused,

"Well what? I said thank you." Replied Rose, she hoped that there wasn't some local custom that she was neglecting through her lack of cultural knowledge. The young man looked irritated and asked a bit annoyed,

"Well, come on! Aren't you going to show us them? Whip them out. That's how it works it's a tradition older than the planet itself. So it must be honored and observed." The other men nodded their heads emphatically agreeing with their traveling mate. Rose looked even more confused and was worried that she was really messing up now and said,

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I'm not from around here and I don't know the custom or tradition of the local area or even the planet. Plus you are making me feel a little uncomfortable. I don't want to be rude, but I have a lot of thinking to do. Could you please just leave me alone now?" The man who now had let the alcohol or whatever in his system overtake his emotions angrily said,

"No that's not how it works! I give you the beads and you pull up your shirt and flash us! They look nice be proud to show em off for us!" Rose now thought back to something she had heard in passing at a bar back in London from some college students who had vacationed in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. About young party women taking off their shirts and flashing someone for beads. How had she let that slip her mind? Appalled by the request she stiffened as she covered her low cut shirt from their hungry and drunken eyes. She then took off the beads, threw them back at the drunken man and hissed,

"First off, I'm a married woman and second even if I wasn't I'm not taking my shirt off for any of you tossers. Now jog on, ya creeps." The largest man in the group not liking the insult from the woman took the glass of alcohol in his hand and went to splash it in Rose's face, but before he could something caught his arm and was applying a crushing pressure. It was the Doctor and he had a look in his eye that could have sent an army of Daleks running. The group of men even through beer goggles found him and his murderous eyes a fright.

"You heard the lady, creeps. Jog on." Growled the Doctor as he applied pressure to a point on the man's arm. The big man found the pain to be almost as painful as this man was scary. Now terrified out of their minds the party of men walked away as fast as their legs could carry them. Rose looked to the Doctor in relief.

"Thanks for saving me before I got drenched." Smiled Rose. The Doctor just rolled his eyes and said,

"I've traveled with a lot of people but you are setting new records for Jeopardy friendly almost every day. Can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?" The Doctor knew that it wasn't Rose's fault but he was just annoyed at the whole situation. Here he was looking for a man as amorous as Jack on a planet the size of Neptune while having to beat trouble off of Rose with a stick.

"It wasn't my fault." Said Rose in defense.

"I know that, now listen a minute. Bartender hasn't seen him, but told me that if he's in this area then the best place to find him is at the Bourbon street grand hall. " Explained the Doctor.

"What?" Asked Rose not sure what he was getting at.

"Everyone of note locally you can find out about there. We're going dancing." Grinned the Doctor. Rose gave the Doctor an appraising look and snickered,

"What you telling me you dance?" The Doctor looked annoyed at her starting what he viewed as an unnecessary conversation at the moment when they still had to foot it across town.

"Oi, what's that suppose to mean? Anyway let's find the place first before you start talking about dancing." Rose looked irked since he was the one who brought it up but the Doctor seemed keen to find Jack so she let it slip for now. The Doctor marched off and Rose followed.

Officer Holly Breaux sat in her unmarked hover car looking over yet another missing persons report. 'Handsome young thing,' she thought and hoped that the sandy-brown haired young man would turn up. His family was devastated at his sudden disappearance, but he was at the age when young men usually tried running off on their own on this planet. But his family was insistent that he had no plans to leave and that he certainly would have vid-phoned them when he got wherever he was going. At a casual glance the officer appeared to be a relatively tall, lovely African looking woman, but instead of human eyes she had eyes very similar to that of a cat. They were golden with green slits that gave her a striking look. They even glowed in the dark, and helped her work her under cover cases in near darkness.

Holly had grown up on the streets of a rough part of New Orleans City raised by her half-catkind grandmother after her parents died in a freak hover car accident. Thanks to her grandmother's watchful eye Holly had kept her nose clean, remained out of trouble and was even inspired by her grandmother to go into law enforcement. There was a long line of law enforcement cats on her mother's side, or 'paw enforcement' as was a family joke, and she longed to continue the tradition. Being a driven individual she had risen to the level of detective rather fast and was now an undercover police woman for the city of New Orleans. It wasn't the best paying job, especially after the city had cut the pay of its law enforcement officers due to mismanagement of funds, leaving them strained at times to keep order, but she wasn't in it for the money and she was comfortable enough.

Her career had been going great up until about a year ago when she started to notice so many missing person reports. These cases were usually difficult by nature of the planet she lived on because of the constantly moving population in the city, but this was above the usual runaways and people skipping town to avoid whatever money problems. All she could do was follow the clue and hope that, with enough evidence, she could get the expected support of her department and her fellow officers. She would get to the bottom of this troubling situation, build up a case and let justice be done for the missing people.

**Author's Notes:**** My first Doctor Who more original story. I can't say completely original because I'm throwing in some lines from the "Empty child" just because I can, plus I want to see some dancing. Not that kind of dancing, you cheeky reader, you. I always wanted to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but I'd rather tour Uptown in the family-friendly part of town. The French Quarter is a bit more raunchy I hear. So Rose and the Doctor must be around the New French Quarter. Anyway tell me what you think so far, thank you.**


	42. Chapter 42 – I won't Dance

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 42 – I won't Dance**

"You said we were going dancing!" Said Rose in a disappointed voice as they stood by the refreshment stands looking like wall flowers. The Doctor and Rose had arrived at the antebellum looking building only to find a futuristic attempt at antebellum club inside. The man at the bar had been right, with so many people frequenting the place everyone and their third cousin had to be here. It was certainly a large enough collection of aliens for Jack to find his flavor of the second.

"Well, I didn't mean literally dancing. Just going to the dancehall." Explained the Doctor to his antsy companion. Rose took another sip of the drink the Doctor had handed her, that did not have an umbrella in it. A virgin Lime Daiquiri, Rose raised her eyebrow at the Doctor, couldn't help but compare the green drink with her lack of a love life from the man standing next to her. Rose guessed that the Doctor didn't want her doing any drinking since this was looking more like a stake out than a party. Rose looked at the happy dancing couples on the floor and sighed.

The dancing was like a mix from something she'd seen in an old southern American movie, but with a very modern, jazzed up and more intimate twist to it. This was far into the future so maybe the people of this time thought this was how dancing was done back in ancient Southern American Earth. Not historically accurate from her knowledge, but either way it looked fun and Rose was itching to get on the floor. Rose turned her head to her husband who was busily looking for Jack among the huge and long dance hall. It had to be as big as 10 football pitches and they were looking for a needle in a hay stack basically. Dancing was clearly not on the Doctor's mind as his eyes swiped over the crowd with slight irritation. Maybe they would at least talk to some of the guests to see if they had heard of Jack after the Doctor was satisfied that Harkness was not here. She decided that she was irked enough at him to stir the pot a bit since it looked like they weren't finding Jack anytime soon.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal. We used to dance before you know?" Said Rose with a hint of something suggestive on her voice. She might not have been talking about dance dancing. Still she couldn't be too angry with him after saving her from that nasty group before. His words weren't exactly romantic earlier but he had been there for her when she needed him. And being there when she needed him were definitely some very nice points toward him. It wasn't the first time she had been saved from a group of creeps by him. The Doctor blushed and Rose saw it, she smiled and she jeered,

"So I guess Time Lords can't dance? Or do they choose not to? I bet Jack can dance, you should get him to teach you if you just don't know how anymore." The Doctor looked at Rose and shook his head. He knew what she was getting at. Time Lords were no fools and what a time for bringing up subtext like that. And suggesting that he couldn't…

"You just assume I'm…" Answered the Doctor blushing, but trailed off and turned his head back to the Dance floor. He wished that someone who at least looked like Jack would show up so he could have an excuse to investigate. But all these humans and humanish people dancing in here and not one he'd seen so far looked remotely like Jack!

"What?" Asked Rose, still teasing. The Doctor swallowed and still looking ahead he replied,

"You just assume that I don't dance." The Doctor sighed feeling very insecure. Rose wasn't going to let him off easy and in a mock disbelieving voice she asked,

"What, are you telling me you do dance?" The Doctor was now feeling his pride being poked at a bit too much and scoffed,

"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced before."

"You? All impressive superior Time Lord, you?" Questioned Rose not believing that the Doctor, in this form, had been capable of engaging in, or even had engaged in, something as primitive and carnal as 'dancing' before she met him as the human, John.

"Problem?" Asked the Doctor annoyed that his confession wasn't being taken seriously. How had they even gotten on the conversation of 'dancing' anyway? Oh yeah, they were in a dancehall. And technically, they had 'danced' before. Quite a number of times, if the Doctor was honest. He had to swat away a few of John's memories that were threatening to bubble to the surface as if just to spite him and come to Rose's aid.

"Doesn't the universe implode or something if you dance?" Asked Rose in a somewhat sultry voice and inching a bit closer. The Doctor was now playing right into Rose's trap. She knew that he was the type who had a lot of pride and would defend any slight against said pride.

"Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast." Answered the Doctor dismissively like it was nothing at all to say he was a fine dancer. It was then that the lively music broke into a slow dance; the Doctor couldn't help but notice that it resembled the Earth song 'Moonlight Serenade.' 'These blokes really need to fact check if they think this is traditional Mardi Gras music.' Thought the Doctor. Rose put down her glass and extended her hand to the Doctor and in a seductive voice that was like music to the Doctor's ears declared,

"Oh I know, but I could use some proof that you still do? So, you've got the moves? Show me your moves." The Doctor looked out over the dance floor again and hesitantly answered,

"Rose, I'm trying to find Jack." Rose dismissed this worry; she didn't want her husband fretting over a man right now. Especially a man she knew, for the most part, could take care of himself. Still holding out her hand she replied,

"We'll find him. Jack'll be back with us before we know it. Let's have a little fun while finding him, yeah? We might spot him faster on the dance floor than off to the sides. So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances." The Doctor knew that they most likely would not spot Jack faster because his eyes would be glued to hers and this was a rather close bodied slow dance. He was sure if he held her in his arms that close he might prove her right and not dance at all. After a few moments the Doctor relented and held Rose in a stiff pose with obvious distance between them. This would not do for the dance at all and they moved jerkily about the dance floor for a minute before she had to pull herself out of an accidental half nelson when the Doctor tried to twirl her. She again took the Doctor's hands to try another go at the slow dance, but his arms continued to be stiff and unmoving. Rose getting frustrated with the Doctor's inability to relax said,

"Is this you dancing? Because I've got notes." His Male Time Lordly pride hurt, the Doctor found himself trying to loosen up and gravitated closer to Rose. Now closer together the Doctor settled for rhythmically swaying with Rose softly to the romantic music and was pulling that much off like a pro. The tension between the two began to dissolve and Rose was fast forgetting that a moment ago he almost accidently twisted off her arm. She also was no longer finding it necessary to stare at the Doctor's feet to make sure he didn't step on hers by accident. Letting out a relaxed sigh Rose looked up into the Doctor's face and felt herself melting under the gaze of his blue eyes. Her single heart jumped when he pulled her closer still, enough that they were pressed almost chest to chest.

"As you can see I am very skilled at dancing when I want to be," Said the Doctor in a smoldering voice. 'Maybe depending on the skill level of the dance', thought Rose cheekily.

"Oh I bet you are." Smirked Rose back in a low voice that was more like a purr. Rose was about to venture closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest when suddenly they were interrupted.

"So I see things went well, but mind if I cut in? Or not, there has to be a three way dance we can do." Jack Harkness declared in a suggestive voice as he seemed to pop out of nowhere. The Doctor was startled by this and any mood that might have been being shared between the technically married couple was destroyed. Realizing that it was Jack talking to them, the Doctor all but pushed Rose across the floor away from him a bit more forcefully than he probably had intended. Rose was not hurt physically by the action, but was confused and just as startled. What had happened? The Doctor had pushed her away, she realized. Rose's feelings once she knew what had happen were now hurt. Being flung from the Doctor's arms so suddenly felt like a rejecting gesture. She then saw Jack and was irritated at him for having interrupted their close to being close moment. But after looking at him for a few second she smiled. A face as handsome and friendly as Jack's she couldn't stay mad at for long. He hadn't been the one who threw her from his arms after all.

"Most people notice when I walk up to them. You guys are so sweet." Giggled Jack like a schoolboy, causing the Doctor's ears to tint red and his mood to sour.

"We were looking for you." Defended the Doctor in his gruffest and most serious voice.

"Obviously not hard enough." Rose whispered under her breath in a sarcastic voice, she wasn't mad at Jack, but she was annoyed for the interruption. The slow music ended and the group of three moved over to the side of the dance floor. The Doctor was being sure to keep his distance from Rose like he had back when they had 'first met' for the second time. As they reached the outskirts of the floor a song started playing that was more like a Rumba and Jack began to dance in place to the music. He was intentionally looking like he didn't have something particularly important to talk about, when in fact he did.

"Doc. Great that you're here. I've been missing you for the past three days." Smiled Jack, the Doctor looked annoyed at Jack's antics and scoffed,

"What, can't you find enough distractions around here?" Jack still looked happy and carefree but his voice took on a serious tone.

"It's not that Doc, I was having fun for the first week, but as you started to get to know the locals you start hearing about all their problems too. And now I need your help." Said Jack in the most serious of voices.

"You want me to help with a bunch of people's domestic problems. Then what are you doing here dancing?" Asked the Doctor not believing Jack would trouble him with something so trivial.

"Stake out." Answered Jack but then he noticed that Rose, now that the attention was off her. was looking back longingly at the dance floor. She had sensed that the Doctor and Jack were going to have an argument of some kind and quite frankly thinking back to the moment when she was about to rest her head on the Doctor was an appealing escape. For that brief moment it felt like the Doctor was relaxing and in a public place. Now that Jack was back she was getting the feeling that old barriers of his she had passed had gone suddenly up again. And that hurt, a lot. She wasn't an idiot and couldn't help but feel that the Doctor was more comfortable being close to Rose as long as no one who knew him personally saw. Was he embarrassed to have been seen with her in a form of intimacy with his friend nearby? She wanted to convince herself that she had just gotten the wrong idea of where she stood with the Doctor again, but she couldn't. She knew that he loved her and that's what made it hurt more. Blushing and stepping away she could have written off as shy, but pushing her almost clear across the room just felt too much like embarrassment or shame to her. That he was embarrassed or ashamed by his love for her hurt even more than thinking that he didn't love her at all. Was being in love with a stupid ape really that damaging to his friend's opinion of him? Jack was another human for heaven's sake! Or was being an aloof superior time lord who didn't dabble in the ways of mortals too much for his ego to stomach?

"What's the matter Rose? You know you were dancing great on the floor before. I could swing around with you for a bit if you'd like. I couldn't help but notice that the Doctor's dancing was quite stiff." Said Jack hoping that a joke at the Doctor's expense would bring her around. The Doctor looked indignant at his companion's remark but Rose just said in a hurt low voice,

"We used to dance quite well." Jack realized that he had completely misread Rose and now was looking for a way to change the subject. Pulling Rose and the Doctor closer to him, a bit more than probably necessary in the Doctor's mind, Jack whispered conspiratorially,

"No one seems to be talking about it among the authorities, but I've been chatting with people on the streets and people are disappearing around here. And it's not just like some tourist or person passing through, locals are disappearing too. Often enough for people to start to notice anyway. I even talked to the police about it and they say that it's just a transient population on this world and not to worry about it too much. Said there was not definitive proof that people are disappearing." Jack looked about the room again, like he was scanning the crowd for a hot date, but the Doctor could tell that was not the case. He could sense that Jack was feeling like if he turned his eyes away from the crowd for just a moment that he would miss something important. Satisfied that he wasn't missing anything, yet, he turned back to the Doctor and Rose and in a quiet voice explained,

"Tourists aren't up on it as well as the locals but there are some places locals just won't go anymore if they can help it. For something that supposedly has 'no definitive proof,' there sure are a lot of people scared. This is a big tourist spot but also the locals used to like to frequent here too. It's literally the best dancehall in town. So many people come here, who going to notice if a few go missing, huh? Been watching the exits and for anyone leaving in groups in a suspicious way. But it is one hell of a job for one person, now three might do better. So it's a stake out. Act like normal tourists and keep your ears and eyes peeled." And with that Rose and the Doctor were drafted into Jack's mission.

Jack had tried to encourage the Doctor into making his way around the dance floor with Rose, but now the Time Lord just wasn't having any of it. The leather clad man was intentionally avoiding eye contact with his human companions and all he would say is that he could be more efficient if he just watched the crowds on the outskirts of the dance floor. Jack was feeling very guilty because whatever he had seen Rose enjoying with the Doctor he seemed to have effectively killed by his sudden presence. Based on what he saw the last time he was on the TARDIS. That had been the closest the Doctor had voluntarily gotten to Rose. Maybe he had assumed too much and their time alone had not gone as well as he had hoped.

Wanting to lift Rose's spirits so very badly Jack put on all the charm he had, and borrowed more from tomorrow, and managed to lure Rose out onto the dance floor. At first the music was slow and didn't seem to help him at all but then a fast pace and lively song started playing. Jack thanked any deity that was listening and busted his finest moves in the most comical way he could. Once Rose was laughing Jack swept up Rose and the two were cutting a rug across the floor and swinging all over the place. Jack was amazed that he could multitask so well, keeping a seemingly depressed Rose this entertained and watching the room was a feat in itself. Though he doubted that Rose was paying too much attention to the dancehall's denizens, but that was okay, she was smiling again. After about four dances in this fashion Rose and Jack were feeling winded and agreed to return to the Doctor who was stationed by one of the refreshment stands. Rose grabbed one of the complimentary glasses of water and gulped it down.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Rose asked Jack as she caught her breath. Jack was over heated too, the dancehall was air conditioned but even it had trouble keeping it cool in a place this packed.

"Oh, it's just you." Smirked Jack as he waggled his eyebrows. Rose nearly spit out her water from looking at Jack's face, but managed to keep it down. The Doctor however seemed to be keeping a good watch on the hall. Jack thought that it was great that he was being so dedicated to the cause, but he really should be more discrete.

"You'll never pass for normal, Doc. Try to loosen up a bit, look like you are having fun being a wall flower at least." Scolded Jack. The Doctor just harrumphed,

"Nothing unusual to report on the floor yet, except you, Captain." Rose pulled at her shirt to let some needed air circulation down her low cut and looked at the Doctor for the first time since she got off the dance floor. He was still wearing that heavy leather coat and Rose was getting warmer just looking at him.

"Doctor aren't you warm dressed like that?" She asked just trying to make chitchat and probably forgetting some of the quirks of Time Lord biology.

"Superior time lord biology, remember? I don't sweat. My body regulates with the temperature a lot more efficiently than sweating. If anything I'd be complaining about the smell in here before the temperature." Said the Doctor plainly. Rose felt a ting of self-loathing again at being reminded by the Doctor that she was of a lower evolved species, but the Doctor's recent behavior and her own conclusions made her feel more angry than inferior. She decided to take the passive aggressive stance this time since she figured a good yell would be lost in such a big crowd and they were trying to avoid making too much of a scene.

"Right, gee how do you stand being around us, smelly apes?" asked Rose with angry sarcasm. She then wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and let it fall to the floor in front of him for effect as if she were daring him to show how disgusted he was by the nature of her biology. Feeding off of Rose's fury the Doctor was going to say that he gets used to it but caught himself. Clearly Rose was upset. He knew that their biological differences was a sore spot that he frankly didn't really help with his attitude. He thought of saying something like 'You don't smell bad to me,' but with Jack nearby that was just too domestic for out in public for him. Instead he settled for uncomfortably but easier said,

"You are not a smelly ape." This statement was not satisfactory for Rose and she decided that an argument, as long as it was at a reasonably volume, was plenty normal for tourists. She had spent too long with this man letting what was on her mind eat her alive and she was going to get out what was on her mind now. Jack had watched many couples in his life and knew when a row was coming, the fire in Rose eyes was unmistakable and he hoped that this wasn't going to be as big as he anticipated.

"Yeah, but I'm still an ape, aren't I? And that's the problem ultimately, isn't it? What happen to, 'you forget that I'm human sometimes'? It's fine to get close to me when you think no one is around or anyone who knows you, but the second Jack shows up you chuck me away from you like I'm diseased!" Growled Rose.

"I did not…" The Doctor tried to say, but he was interrupted by Rose,

"Is it giving so much of yourself to show me a little in public around our friends, what you have in private? It's not like it's anything you couldn't do in broad daylight. I've given a lot for the sake of this relationship, what have you had to give? This isn't a marriage if all I do is give and all you do is take!" The Doctor was now angered by what he saw as ungratefulness, and maybe he was acting irrationally a bit, but he let it all out in a fury of emotion,

"Take?! I've given you all of time and space, who could give you that?"

"That's nothing you wouldn't give to any other human that interested you enough to take along, like Jack!" Jack was now waving his hands party to ask to not be included in the argument and partly to try to keep down their voices. Fortunately no one seemed to be paying them much attention so it must still be too loud and busy in the dancehall. Rose continued,

"You never give any of yourself. I don't want all of time and space or the traveling. I want you! I could be stuck in one place for the rest of my life as long as I had you! I've given my body and soul to you. I had your body and one bit of your soul once. I want all your soul." The last part Rose said much quieter and sadder. The Doctor was honestly speechless, he did not know what to say to that and Rose was opening her mouth again. The Doctor braced for another shout but instead Rose, now having gotten out her frustrations. was calm though obviously pained. She tried the best she could to keep her voice from shaking and said,

"You're always saying that you're this superior Time Lord and I think you just use it as a fence, so you don't have to leave your comfort zone and walk into territory that you can't always control! You get closer to me and then when you realize what you are doing you retreat. I'm sick of being jerked around Doctor! I deserve better than that. I'll stay with you if you want me, but I want to know where I stand with you! I'm getting tired of your whims. I know you love me, but I'm a human. I can't change that! So accept me for what I am and let's move forward or if you can't handle the differences then be fair and divorce me if that would make your life easier and ultimately happier." The Doctor again could not find the words that he wanted to say and a few times opened his mouth as if he were to say something, but Rose couldn't take the situation she had now put herself in or the Doctor's undecided and searching look as her words whirled around in his head. She needed to get some air and the Doctor obviously wasn't coming to a conclusion anytime soon. Borrowing a page from her husband she decided to run instead,

"I'll give that time to sink into that thick Time Lord superior skull of yours!" Said Rose wiping tears from her eyes. Rose then stormed off, half because she was so angry and half because she was scared of his answer if he did give it at that moment. Part of her said it was cowardly and maybe a bit immature or dramatic, but she just needed time by herself.

"Wait, Rose!" Shouted the Doctor and Jack, but it was too noisy for her to hear them properly.

Rose had been a champion gymnast once, so weaving through a crowd of dancer was not much of a problem for her, but for the men in her group that was more of a challenge. The two in trying to run after her were jostled about by the enthusiastic dancers and before they knew it they had lost Rose in the crowd. It felt like making your way through a mosh pit. Jack tried to look above the crowd toward the exits but the doors were opening and closing all the time with so many people coming and going that it was impossible to tell which direction she went. By the time the two had reached the other side they both had been pushed, pulled, and a few times fondled by other dancers. The Doctor went through the nearest exit with Jack on his tail. Rose was not there.

"Where'd she wander off to?" The Doctor asked no one. Jack then came up to his side and exhaled,

"We have to find her, not safe alone."

"I know that, why'd she have to do something this stupid?" Stated the Doctor in frustrated panic.

"Stupid? You couldn't show her a little PDA in front of me? From the sounds of it from what you put her through since I've been gone, she should be applying for Sainthood! Look, I'm sorry I teased you, Doctor. I wasn't trying to embarrass you. I was just happy to see that you two seemed to be getting along well. I won't think less of you for having feelings, if that's what's bothering you." Growled Jack.

"You know you talk about it like my situation is so simple but it's not, I… Look, Rose couldn't have gotten far. Let's go this way." Announced the Doctor as he ran off toward the direction they had come first. The Doctor's logic had been that Rose would go back to familiar territory, but this time he would be wrong. Was he ever wishing that he had his own mobile.

Rose upon exiting the dancehall first felt the rush of the cool night air on her skin and it was refreshing. Though she could still hear the bass of the music inside the building, it was quieter and she could think. Her head felt so stuffed up in there and seeing the green alien night sky was uplifting. She decided that she would go for a walk and clear her head, though she didn't know she was walking in the opposite direction as the Doctor. Rose wasn't a fool and she opted that although she didn't know the path she was going it was better lit and downhill. Therefore no matter where she walked she reasoned that she could find her way back to the dancehall, because you could just see it. It was one of the highest points in this section of the city. She didn't have any money to buy anything with but she figured that she could find some place to sit and think once she got tired of walking. She still had her mobile so if anyone wanted to get in contact with her they could just call. Maybe she could even give her mother a call, wasn't that what women did when they had trouble with the husband? Call Mum? She didn't know if she was ready to talk about all that had happened to her since she last called, but her mother's voice would at least make her feel better.

But until she got where she was going the only problem now was that Rose had no one for company but her own thoughts. She told herself that a walk among the festivities would give her time to chill out, plenty of distractions, yeah? But all it did was wind her up with bad thoughts. Rose didn't really want a divorce and she hoped that that wasn't what the Doctor wanted either, but she was desperate for something that resembled a solid step forward rather than a step back and forward. She was tired of thinking she knew, without a doubt, that the Doctor loved her only to be made to question it all over again. His treatment of her made her think such damaging thoughts, like maybe he only pitied her before. 'So does someone in my family have to die every time for him to act a little like he's my husband?' asked Rose of herself.

Yet another night of public service was coming to an end for Officer Holly Breaux and she was exhausted mentally and physically. The majority of her job, like every other officer, was crowd control on this party planet and to be honest handling missing person cases was like a side hobby at her job. Or at least that's what she joked bitterly when the higher ups had her so overwork that she barely had time to even come to interview the people who called missing person reports in. As important as they were to her more often than not, she found herself making visits on her off hours just so that the wait time for the grieving families was less than a week. She was not paid for this overtime either it was done out of the legitimate goodness of her heart. She kept requesting the chief to either hire more officers or assign her to actually follow up on these cases full-time but she was sadly told that the department just didn't have the resources to comply.

"Bleeding economy. You'd never think that there was a recession the way this planet is always packed with tourists and no one thinks it's important that it's properly policed?" Holly exhaled in frustration. Logic would dictate that there would be enough money to go around, and she would have loved to see the person who managed the budgets around here. Holly parked her hover car in a police vehicle designated zone and got out. At least it was nice that they got free parking around the city, she just wished that it wasn't so out of the way from any restaurant. Holly figured that a little food would revitalize her, but hoped that she could crawl through the door before running out of steam. She had to eat. A twenty minute walk later found her on the 'traditional' New Orleans restaurant street. She liked it here because it was more family friendly. Mostly families walking about but a few people traveled alone down here, though mostly local employees. She looked about and decided on 'Fred's Galaxy Gumbo,' they usually had good food. After what felt like and might have been a half an hour later, she came out with 'not gumbo' and sat at one of the open air self-seating tables in front of the eating establishment. They were on an elevated platform designed to attract restaurant goers to come in, get food, and have a great spot to watch parade floats that came by. Lucky for her she had beaten most of the dinner crowd otherwise she might have just given up on the food cue and gone home to eat. Tourists usually had big lunches during the day to hold them over until the festivities for the day were over and then had dinner late at night. She turned her eyes to the crowds as she ate it was a nice night and even when she was technically 'off duty' she still liked to watch the streets, not wanting to miss the possibility of catching that one hint of something out of place.

**Author's Notes:** The Doctor better step up already and be a man, don't you think? I have never been more conscious of my writing decisions as now. I keep worrying that I'm going to mess up and kill the story and people will stop reading it. No flames please, (gulp)…


	43. Chapter 43 - The Well Placed Trap

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 43 - The Well Placed Trap**

The Doctor was beginning to wonder if this was how Rose felt chasing after him when he had wanted to make himself scarce. He had been retracing Rose and his steps all the way back to the bar they had first got the tip on where to find Jack. Maybe she had gone back to the TARDIS, but no, they would have run into her by now, he had much longer legs and was much faster. They would have over taken her easily even with a ten minute head start. As the Doctor pondered his next actions, Jack had remained outside the bar surveying the street while the Doctor combed every inch inside and questioned the room. No one had seen Rose and the Doctor walked outside of the bar feeling very dejected. That was why he was particularly irritated to see that Jack appeared to be socializing instead of keeping an eye on the crowd. Full of anger the Doctor walked up to Jack and saw that he was chatting with an older middle aged looking woman. Jack didn't age discriminate it seemed. Then he saw the upset look on the woman's face and Jack wasn't the sort of man that most would frown around.

"…And you didn't find one sign of anyone who could have taken Don?" asked the woman of Jack. Jack had to report that his hunt had turned up unsuccessful as he looked into the grief-stricken face of his new friend, Lana. The Time Lord came up to the two and Jack introduced Lana to the Doctor. Lana was 47 years old and worked in a tourist guide's office two blocks away and her son had been kidnapped. Or that was what she had claimed to the police who had only just got around to finally taking her report a few days ago, and she had to do that on her lunch hour. Although the disappearance of her son, Donald, had brought her world to a stop, the rest of the world kept moving. Everyone on this planet was hungry for jobs and if she did not go to work than she would lose it. This left her with barely anytime to search for her son. She was a widow and had met Jack in a singles bar not long after the TARDIS had left Jack on New Orleans. The two had struck up a friendship and Lana had let Jack in on all the rumors of the area. She even told him about a few missing people that the cops didn't seem to be too worried about, so she figured neither should she. That was until her own son had fallen victim to kidnapping. Jack had come into say 'hi' to Lana at her job and had unloaded her troubles on Jack who, touched by her story and circumstances, had agreed to help and had been doing so for the past few days.

"I just keep walking the streets hoping…hoping that I'll see him or find some clue…He used to work around here busing tables." Said Lana half out of it. Jack looked at the woman with pitying eyes and gave her a quick hug then turned to the Doctor.

"I tried the police myself, but they said that people left the planet all the time, that you could file a report but other than that there wasn't much that we could do besides put up flyers on the local vid boards. That's when we realized that there weren't just a few people missing there were a lot of people who have gone missing. The vid boards are covered in missing people's reports. The cops don't seem to care. I think it's time we put that police box to work." Declared Jack resolutely and the Doctor did agree that this was an interesting mystery but for just a bit later.

"I'm very sorry for your loss ma'am and I am more than willing to help assist Jack in finding your son, but right now we are actually looking for a friend of our own who has wandered off from the Bourbon Street dancehall." Said the Doctor kindly. The woman at hearing the name of the street like a reflex from her job guiding tourists around the city explained while pointing down the street,

"Well if you are looking for your friend, the other main road to Bourbon feeds out down that way. If you can make it through the pushing crowds eventually you'll reach the road that your friend probably took. That's my best suggestion anyway. Anywhere else around the dancehall is usually blocked off for the late night parades so she couldn't have wondered far." The Doctor smiled at the older woman. Of course, they must have just gone the wrong way. The Doctor thanked the woman and told her that he would help just as soon as they found Rose. The Doctor then ran off in the suggested direction with Jack following after waving a quick goodbye to Lana.

Rose had found her place to stop and rest, her feet were killing her a bit from the walking and dancing from earlier. The road she had taken seemed to lead down an area that was much cleaner and less wild looking than any street she had been on with the Doctor earlier. The majority of people walking about around here were families and most of the entertainment here seemed to be family based. Street performers were all about delighting children, and families lined up to enjoy traditional style food in family friendly restaurants. And Shops. Man, were there ever shops here. Overall a nice place for distracting the mind. Rose sat herself on an empty bench and easily saw over a crowd of very short alien tourists who were marveling at a man holding what looked similar to a parrot as it danced in his hand and did tricks.

"You know it should be a crime for a pretty girl like you to be sitting alone." Said a voice to the side of Rose. Rose turned her head to see one of the most handsome men she'd seen yet on this planet. Rose never could tell if someone was a whole human in this time period but he looked human enough. He was tall, gorgeous, and had a winning smile. She was taken aback by him for a moment but then she remembered the pickup line and boy was she ever not in the mood to be romanced right now.

"Thanks." Said Rose politely and then turned her head to observe a juggler entertaining a group of children. The man had a slightly annoyed look on his face from the dismissal but he did not feel defeated yet. He sat down on the bench next to Rose and started talking again.

"A girl like you should be having a flock of good-looking men buying you drinks, but since there is only one here, I guess I could buy you one, darlin'." He said as he scooted a little closer to Rose and rested his arm on the wooden-looking beams of the bench directly behind Rose's back.

Normally Rose was a friendly sort but she was in no mood to chat and she certainly was not in the place of mind right now to accept offers of drinks from strangers. Maybe if she were single again and at a pub with friends she would be tempted but right now she just wanted to sit and watch families enjoy themselves and vicariously absorb some of their cheer. As she looked longer at the man's too appealing face and eyes she couldn't shake the feeling of danger. Something about this man was off and gave her the creeps and if she had learned anything in her life, it was to trust her instincts. She felt that if she went anywhere with this person she would find trouble, she didn't know what type but knew she did not want it. She had stopped here because the atmosphere was comforting and safe. The song 'One of these Things,' started playing in her head as she compared her 'guest' to all the festivities around her.

"I'm sorry but I'd rather just sit here. Not planning to leave anytime soon, in fact I have some friends coming." Rose said as she indicated the populated and well lit Disneyland atmosphere location she was in. The last part was a lie, she didn't think anyone knew she was here, but she didn't want him thinking she was alone either. That seemed to do the trick and the man after a few moments of evaluating her, as Rose noticed through the corner of her eye, smiled politely to her and got up and left. Rose let out a sigh and relaxed as she pulled out her mobile and contemplated calling her mother.

Ultimately Rose had decided not to call her mother. She didn't want her to worry about her by calling when she was upset and she'd rather hear what the Doctor had to say to her first before calling her. After having sat down for about an hour or so, she felt more at peace and decided that she should find the Doctor and Jack. The crowds were now thinning in the particular area as parents were obviously getting their younglings to bed now. At first Rose had thought to just walk back to the dancehall, but the stories Jack had told her and the fact that it was now really late made her wary. But what else was there to do? She then had an idea and went into one of the shops, not yet closed, and asked the teenaged woman inside for directions. Rose had remembered the name of the crossroads they had passed near the TARDIS and if she could just find her way to it, if it was not too far off, then she could just go to her room and sleep off the day. Provided the Doctor had not moved the TARDIS, but if that was the case then she could just phone the TARDIS to pick her up. She wasn't going to sleep on the street when her husband was the one who should be in the dog house. To Rose's luck it was almost a straight line to the TARDIS, a little bit of a hike but at least she couldn't get lost and again it was well lit. She guessed that the party got 'wilder' the more you went down the street. But for the most part she felt that her walk would be safe on her own this late at night. Not like she never left work late herself after all. But that had gotten her in to trouble before so no dark alley way short cuts for her. Rose made her way down the road in the light. But little did she suspect that dangerous eyes that she had met earlier were watching her from the shadows.

"What is with these crowded sidewalks?" Asked the Doctor annoyed and continued, "Before everyone was walking anywhere they pleased in the streets and now they're forcing us all off to the sides like sardines in a tin." Jack let out an exasperated sigh and explained to the Doctor that they closed off some of the streets at night to do clean up.

"It's a big city. I was uh, having a nice night…in with this one guy who's on the city clean up team. Told me that they are constantly cleaning this place and it's too much to clean during just the day because they are so short staffed. Recession, so they are literally cleaning around the clock with a limited staff, breaking parts up into sections. On some days a street might get cleaned up during the day and on others at night." Deliberated Jack. The Doctor just groaned and pushed his way through a long line of restaurant goers, who seemed to be waiting at least three blocks from their goal.

Rose walked along the side walk counting the cross streets as she went not wanting to miss hers. All the while she found herself enjoying new sights and sounds of the night life. As she progressed she found that it got more crowded further down as she past a few obviously popular restaurants. Places like 'Crawfishling Kitchen' and 'Something Galaxy Gumbo' had a steady supply of customers on the other side of the street even this late at night. Parade managers were also starting to block off the street for evening cleaning and merrymakers were being funneled onto the sidewalks. Rose was so occupied with watching the street across the way on her right that she didn't notice the small darkened and, alley-like side street she that was passing on her left. And that was when strong crushing arms grabbed her and pulled into the alley. This person was so swift and skilled in their method that Rose all but disappeared off the street without notice. Except she was seen by one woman finishing her meal across the street on an outdoor eating platform in front of Fred's Galaxy Gumbo.

Holly was licking the last bit of her food off her fingers, a bad habit she had picked up on the catkind side of her family, she would joke. After having cleaned her fingers off she took her napkin and dabbed her mouth and hands before standing up from her seat. It was then that she saw across the street a blond woman be forcible pull into an alleyway. The blond did not appear to be going quietly as her legs thrashed back as she was pulled deeper into the darkness.

"Son of a…" Holly hissed as she ran down the path through the restaurant that led back down to the street, which was easier said than done, thanks to the crushing crowds.

"Police, Police, out of the way!" shouted Holly to the crowds of people but it was still a good two minutes before she got past them all. Holly hopped the tall opaque divider blocking off the street and reached into her pocket, she knew that she might already be too late but there was still a slim chance at grabbing some evidence. Holly pulled out a round metallic ball and threw it as far as she could across the street and into the alley. The ball began to float with speed down the alley and she ran across the street to the other divider. The police woman climbed over the divider but in a turn of bad luck tripped over her own feet as she made her way over onto the sidewalk. Fortunately for her she landed on something soft and very flirtatious.

"Whoa, drop in anytime, sweetheart." Said Jack from beneath Holly while the Doctor looked on irritated and itching to move again. But the woman had no time for formalities and just shouted,

"Police, out of the way!" She then ran past Jack as soon as she was back on her feet. Jack and the Doctor were confused by the woman's actions as they had been too far up the street before to have seen what Holly had witnessed from her spot across the street. Still if it was police business of course the two had to check out what it was real fast. The two followed the determined law enforcement officer into the dark and dirty alley and stopped behind her as she looked about her surroundings. Although it was very dark her eyes were more than capable of compensating,

"Damn it, got away." Said Holly in frustration and stopped her foot for effect. She then gave a whistle and the floating metal ball alighted into her hands. That was when the Doctor and Jack caught up with the woman.

"Are you okay, anything we can help with?" Asked Jack in his usual helpful tone as he walked up alongside to the woman with the Doctor in tow.

"What's all the hullaballoo?" Questioned the Doctor, the police woman was not in the mood to deal with curious civilians and said,

"Shut up a minute." She then tapped a few spots on the metal ball and it glowed yellow. Holly punched the air. A facial shot was confirmed and said under her breath,

"Got one!" She then turned her head to the two civilians and said in an official sounding voice,

"This is a crime scene, I realize you are trying to be helpful, but please stay back. I saw a blond woman get pulled into this alley and my cam-floater caught it. I need to collect evidence." The Doctor started getting a bad feeling the second he heard the words blond woman mentioned.

"What happened to the woman?" Asked Jack looking around.

"I was too late to stop them from taking her but I at least I have a facial picture, hopefully." Said Holly, the cam –floater was not department issued, she had had to buy it with her own money to use on the job and it wasn't the most expensive one on the market.

"I might be able to find her or her kidnapper if I'm quick. If they had a ride she could be miles away by now, every second counts!" Said Holly. She then brought up the image she had captured and projected it on a holo-display in front of her. And that was when the mood in the alley went even darker. The image to Holly's disappointment only got a clear photo of the victim and not the attacker. Her long hair had obscured the man's face and he appeared to be wearing something that hid his identity and gloves anyway. Holly felt a cold chill and turned to see that one of the civilians, the tall dark haired one, with a look of utter fury on his face. Not only was the blond woman Rose, but her attacker appeared to be stabbing a syringe like object into the side of her neck.

"What is that man doing to Rose?" Growled the Doctor as he reached into his inner jacket pocket. 'Rose?' thought Holly, 'So they are friends of the victim. Great they can confirm her identity and answer questions.' Holly's attention was then brought back to the image and she realized that she had been so focused on getting a face she was slow to see anything else in the image.

"Oh!" exclaimed Holly as she put away her cam floater and pulled out another device but before she could use it the Doctor had already pulled out his sonic device and scanned the area. Rose had definitely been here. The photo proved that much. And to the Doctor's horror the injection device his scan had found on the ground was a grim double confirmation that Rose had not left of her own will. Holly recognized the item on the ground and brought out her crime scene scanner as she took a closer look.

"She's probably been 'red cloaked' judging by this hypo-syringe. This is good evidence the perp was sloppy. I never get anything this good. Rats, it's a sterilizer version. For recycling purposes originally, but criminals found other uses for that feature. After it's used it sterilizes itself of any genetic material of the subject it might have come in contact with as well as the chemical injected. But there might still be some traces on outside of it if the criminal was sloppy loading it. I'll have to bring it in to be sure, but from the picture alone it looks suspect. It's the closest evidence that these chemicals are on the planet, at least. Possession of it alone is a felony." Stated Holly as she went into full crime scene mode as she took a holo scan of the crime scene and then bagged the syringe. Finally, maybe now she could add this to her case and convince the chief that this was, in fact, happening in his own backyard. For there is only one reason to 'red cloak' someone if this is in fact the red cloak chemical. Human trafficking, thought Holly.

"Red cloaked?" asked the Doctor, for once being in the dark on something. He didn't usually take too much stock in learning about what new thing apes were getting high or whatever on every century. He just wanted whatever information that would help him track down Rose faster.

"That was the name of a crime syndicate that popularized the drug for the reasons it's no longer sold legally in any civilized star system. Besides trafficking they also used the drug as a form of punishment back when they were still a threat. Those criminals were taken out by an interplanetary government sting operation a few years back, 'Project Bad Wolf,' I think it was called, but Red Cloak's awful legacy lives on." Declared Holly to the Doctor and Jack through gritted teeth. She didn't know why she was sharing all this information with these random people. Maybe months of being ignored and scoffed at had done their toll and she just needed to vent. Either way she was going to clear her emotional plate.

"I've been trying to convince the Chief of police for months that something like this could be happening to people on New Orleans but he says unless I have definitive proof he can't waste man power on theories. I mean it's understandable. We are underpaid and short staffed as it is for a party city, but he could be a bit more helpful to the cause. He could at least read my requests to put more trained port inspectors at the docks!" Holly Exclaimed. The Doctor was thinking that this conversation moving onto the subject of paychecks was dangerously turning towards domestics, so he moved Holly back on task.

"Okay, it's a drug, what does it do?" clipped the Doctor to the police woman, they were wasting valuable time that they could be spending looking for Rose. Or actually finding and treating Rose for whatever medical nightmare this criminal had subjected her to. Holly looked annoyed with the Doctor's tone but continued her explanation.

"The drug is illegal now in every star system it's been heard of. It's also pretty expensive so it's not used lightly, these are high risk criminals. Originally it was used as a means to save lives as an extreme measure if humans running supplies got stranded in deep space for longer than their oxygen supply could last them. But pretty soon people started finding darker purposes for it. It's the perfect way to transport living beings with almost no detection in an oxygen free environment. Like putting you on ice. Slows down all bodily functions like hibernating and preserves cells in stasis lock for as long as five months without intervention. Slightly less I'm told if you are non-human or humanish. Given a dosage to "property" once, 9 out of ten times it won't do you any long term harm. The body doesn't know what to think of the stuff so it goes along with it. But after multiple dosages the body starts to rebel against it being there and tries to go back to normal functions. Tissue and brain damage can start to happen then. Some traffickers from other systems have used it more than once on 'problem property' because it's a hassle free way to transport slaves. They consider it worth the risk of not getting caught and if the slave loses a few brain cells; who cares. It was never meant to be used more than once because of the unlikeliness of needing to be used more than once in a life time!" Stated Holly.

"Human trafficking, Doc. Sad to say that that's one thing that doesn't seem to change with time." Sighed Jack to the Doctor. Holly took another deep breath and continued,

"It slows down the body and cells enough to preserve the specimen for months with a single dosage. Subjects can be brought out of it early through the introduction of another legal chemical, but then that subject needs oxygen again immediately. Of course things can go bad right away too when it is first injected. If the idiot giving the drug doesn't know what they are doing. Usually richer operations can afford a chemist but with more people than ever trying to break into the slave trade that isn't always a sure thing. You might have to accept the possibility that your friend could be dead."

"No, she is alive. And we are going to find her." Said the Doctor resolutely. Holly needed to explain to this 'grieving loved one' that now was probably the least likely time they would find her, and relaying her collected information from off world researchers, she explained,

"The drug is all but undetectable too. The only way you can tell if someone had been transported that way is on a cellular level. And that's only if you can catch them while it's still in their system. Their cells are in a stasis like they are frozen in time. Most obvious is in children because any scan will tell you that they've stop growing while that stuff is still in their system. But then they start growing again as if nothing happened once the drug has run its course. Criminals know better than to let you see anyone they traffic who has been drugged within that time frame. She's probably under lock and key and will be transported in the most out of sight way possible. They won't just march her out in transport. They'll have her hidden in something. After she's no longer under the cloak they can parade her out at market at some place off world where slaving is legal or illegal even. Pray that the dosage was right at least then you might find her eventually and more or less as you remembered her."

Jack was starting to remember something about this. He was a time agent and hence familiar with a little bit of every century but he couldn't keep track of everything. He remembered helping in a rescue mission of trafficked humans once. One of their agents had been captured around this time period and they had to rescue her along with a bunch of other unfortunate people. She had been missing for a year and they had saved her but she was never the same again and even a few other captives with her were exhibiting similar symptoms. She had to be retired to an assisted living home. No one knew what had happened to her and Jack was starting to put together the pieces. It made him angry.

"I think I've seen some victims that were subjected to multiple dosages. Most of them had to spend the rest of their lives learning to tie their shoes again." Growled Jack.

"Well, if that was indeed the case, you are probably wondering why they would use it on people multiple times, if it risks turning property into vegetables? Well, I asked and I was told that 'you don't need a fully functioning brain for the parts they often want to work." Hissed Holly distastefully.

"And they used this on Rose!" Thundered the Doctor in a murderous voice, when he got his hands on whoever had Rose they would be very very sorry. He turned to Jack in frustration. He felt angry and powerless and guilt at having put Rose in yet another dangerous situation. He needed something to rage at probably so he didn't have to think about how much he wanted to blame himself. He caught sight of Jack and rationally he knew it was wrong, but rational had already been chucked out a window and he glared at Jack.

"She's in trouble because I brought her here looking for you! This is all your fault in the first place! If you hadn't let her get involved with me back when I was human, if you had kept me from marrying her… She would have just stayed behind when I changed and would have lived a safe and normal life." Growled the Doctor to his companion. Jack wasn't going to take such an accusation lying down. He had dedicated over a year of his life protecting the Doctor from hostile aliens, and he had done just that. So he messed up one part, and the Doctor had married a human behind his back, at least she wasn't a hostile alien, far from it. Rose was in Jack's opinion the best thing that could have happened to the Doctor and one day, hopefully, this daft Time Lord would see that too.

"What do you want, Doc? You said keep me safe, not keep me chaste. And we both know that even if you didn't marry her, you still would have asked her twice to come along." Jack defended. The doctor grumbled defeated, they both knew that Jack was right. Even if one of them wouldn't admit it. The Doctor then turned around and began to storm out of the alley, but was stopped by Jack,

"Where are you headed off to?" demanded Jack.

"I'm going to find Rose. I just need a sample of her DNA and I'll be able to find her with the TARDIS!" shouted the Doctor annoyed at being stopped.

"Doc these are high risk criminals we are possibly dealing with here! A lot to gain, plenty to lose and most likely armed to the teeth. We are going to need back up if things get ugly." Said Jack trying to reason with the Doctor. He could use the TARDIS to find Rose but he still would have to manage to waltz through a horde of heavily armed nervous criminals. Even Jack questioned the Doctor's ability to do that. At the very least it might put Rose in more danger if he got discovered.

"Yes, Doc was it? I am sorry for your distress, but it would be wiser for you to let the authorities handle this and file a report at central headquarters. We are more than capable of helping you save your friend."

"The name is Doctor and she's not my friend she my…No one is more capable of finding her than me." Said the Doctor, as he let his feeling slip for a moment. The Doctor got 'control' over himself and said to Jack,

"You go get back up then, but I'm going to go find Rose. I'll send the coordinates to your vortex manipulator when I get them, so the coppers can clean up afterwards. All right?" Jack looked apprehensive. He knew that the Doctor was thinking with his hearts and maybe not as much his head as he normally would do. Jack knew the look of a determined lover and he had a feeling nothing he could do could keep this being from its mate. He would just have to do the best he could to assist and keep The Doctor and Rose safe from harm.

"I personally would prefer that civilians not get involved in police work, but if you have a way to zero in on a human trafficking ring then I'll gladly take whatever information this TARDIS can get and use it in the investigation." Said Holly sincerely.

"Ah, but we're not civilians see?" said Jack pulling the psychic paper out of the Doctor's pocket. Something else also fell out of the Doctor's pocket as Jack fished out the paper. Jack had not noticed because he was too busy trying to look official but the Doctor noticed the quick shimmer of the object as it fell to the ground. Considering the odds of how big his pockets were and how much he kept in them, it hit him in his two hearts what fell unnoticed to the ground. John Smith's wedding ring. When he had first pocketed it, back on the campus that John Smith had worked on, he reasoned that it was a souvenir or just a trinket to line his pocket. Just best hold on to it, he had tried to kid himself. It wasn't as near and dear to him as it had been to John Smith at the time. But now having forgotten about it only to see the gold band discarded in the dirt, as if it were a worthless thing to be washed into the gutter, it hurt him. Even angered him and that's when he realized that the simple scrap of gold meant something to him as the Doctor not just John. There were millions of wondrous objects in the galaxy and right now this was the most precious one to him though he wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself. His very big mind flashed to the memory of the person who had placed it lovingly on his finger, long before he had taken it off on campus, after he had changed back. He felt a deep longing in his hearts and a rekindled frantic desire to find that person before anymore harm could come to her. Unseen by the other two in the alley the Doctor reached down and grabbed the ring out of the dirt and clutched it in his fist as Jack flashed the psychic paper to Holly and she looked relieved.

"Federal agents?! Finally! All the disappearances have brought the feds. Well shall we go, Agent Harkness?" declared Holly. Jack nodded and was about to give back the paper to the Doctor but the Doctor raised his hand.

"Take it with you. Might give you a little authority to get people moving downtown." Declared the Doctor. Jack saluted the Doctor and then ran off with Holly to her patrol car. Not wanting to risk losing the ring he slipped it onto the bottom of his sonic screwdriver and it locked in place. It wasn't going anywhere and surprisingly the gold against the silvery casing wasn't too obvious. He'd find a safer place for it later but right now he didn't want it out of his sight until he found Rose. Still running the Doctor pulled his TARDIS key out of his pocket and high tailed it into overdrive for the three blocks or so to the TARDIS. He didn't want to waste another micro second. He would find Rose and whoever took her would know the full wrath of a Time Lord.

**Author's Notes:**

Rose is in trouble now, please save her quick Holly, Jack and Doctor! What you think, gang? Oh god, the whole time I'm writing this, I'm like please I can convince them that such a thing can exist. Please they don't think this is bull or too out of the blue. Or too unbelievable. I've actually been planning this story for months… I realize that this chapter is a bit wordy but I have to establish the importance of this development to the story. Things should get moving and even darker with the next chapter. I'm actually fighting with how dark to make it. Toodles.

.


	44. Chapter 44 – Taken

**Complicated **

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 44 – Taken**

Rose's apparently lifeless body had been thrown quite effortlessly in the back cargo hold of a hover van. Rose landed on her side with a soft thud on to the floor of the van to join two other young women already there and in the same apparent death-like state. The man was very strong but he had limited time and he was being more careless with the crime scene than he would have rather been, but he had defenses even in a rush. The strong armed man then quickly jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door. He knew that he had been noticed and this wasn't the kind of job you took your time doing. The unmarked hover van then raced into the sky and after a few miles of speedy flying the hover van just merged quietly into traffic. Then without suspicion it would eventually reach its destination, the drop off point, at the docking ports. The two men in the hover vehicle, now away from the scene of the crime, took this moment to remove the ski-mask-like disguises from their heads and gloves from their hands. The two then exchanged happy glances and relaxed as they coasted along with a pile of unconscious women behind their seats. These wome- Manage Storiesn were the unfortunate captives of two men who now having a full net for the night were ready to get paid.

"They usually don't give me as much trouble as this wench did. I have to admit bagging her was more enjoyable than usual. Digging that needle into her neck was really satisfying after those kicks to my legs she gave me. Still the challenge is in the hunt." Smirked the same handsome man that Rose had met and rejected earlier.

"Maybe you're losing your touch in your old age, Hamilton." Laughed the driver. Hamilton told the driver to 'shut up' and he looked to the back of the van at their catch. He wouldn't mind having some fun with these 'fine ladies' before handing them over, but it got boring after the … oh he'd lost count by now, and undamaged livestock or at least apparent undamaged livestock was more valuable.

Hamilton and his seedy friend behind the wheel were an unlikely pair. 'Ham' was a handsome Adonis and the driver was an ugly man with a mind for crime and nothing else. Unfortunately in Hamilton's case being attractive didn't always pay the bills and he had very expensive hobbies. The handsome man had met the driver by chance, he never did give his name to Ham because he always feared snitches, and when the driver realized that Hamilton had a talent for attracting people it was obvious that they should team up for better results. They had been there from the start when the operation was smaller, but over a short amount of years the trade had grown quite big and they had regular work in the collecting end of the job. Not that they had anything against helping out where it was needed in the shipping end, they both needed the exercise and it was well paid too, but hunting was the best part. One didn't want to stay away from the drop off too long or you might miss out on an opportunity to make more money and with the recession in full swing, work was always appreciated.

They started to slow the van down and turned off into a disused alley way, the driver knew that they were now coming up on the drop off point and warned,

"Quick swipe any jewelry off em. If we don't grab it, someone else will." Hamilton took that as his signal and went about removing any valuables off of the three women. A necklace here, a bracelet there, they would fetch some good prices. Then he came to his latest prize. This girl had been especially hard to nab and if she had anything of value on her than he wouldn't mind keeping it as a trophy. He liked mementos ever since he was a child and always collected things from events he thought important. He looked over her body for anything worthy to be his trophy, a key on a chain? Worthless. What else did she have? He looked over her hands and that was when he found it. A ring. Specifically it was a wedding ring. How old fashioned. Hamilton pulled the ring off forcefully and looked it over, 'just a little bit of gold. How boring,' thought Hamilton as he appraised the property that was now his. The man looked inside the ring, it was engraved. In a sarcastic voice he read aloud,

"My beloved Rose," he then burst out into laughter and smirk,

"Sappy bastard. Can't believe chicks fall for that crap." The man turned his head to the driver still smiling.

"I think this one was already damaged when we got her." laughed Hamilton.

"Means someone might miss her. Well, maybe not, wives run off with other men all the time." Declared the driver.

"She's all ready 'run off' with me, hasn't she? Sorry babe, won't last, I'll only hurt ya. So I'm just gonna let you go, for a price. Then I'm sure someone will play with you." Jeered Hamilton to the unconscious Rose, he then slapped her on her backside for good measure.

"Oooh, firm, someone's been doing a lot of running." Laughed the man, as he looked back to Rose's wedding ring in his hand,

"Guess her man had no money to speak of. I was hoping she'd have a diamond at least if she's this old fashioned." Said the man to the driver. Hamilton then pulled off a chain around his neck concealed in his shirt and added the ring to his collection of trophies he kept on a necklace, wearing it out in the 'open' with pride. The man then brought his attention to what the women were wearing. Since the buyers didn't care in what state of dress they came in, if a particular bit of livestock had on a nice jacket or whatever, it was common practice to pawn off their hauls' clothes at a trusted pawn shop. He rolled Rose over completely on her stomach and roughly 'patted her down' in case he missed anything valuable, and partly for his own sick enjoyment, and then he noticed something in her back pocket and pulled it out.

"This girl's got some ancient antique on her! We have to see if we can get anything for it later! I know a buyer who deals in stuff like this." Smiled Hamilton happily at his good luck. He'd heard of these things before, and even remembered seeing one in a museum when he was still a teen in school, but they became obsolete when satellites had gone out of use for communications. He fiddled with the buttons on the phone and it worked, or at least lit up. There was no way this thing could be real, but it was at least an expensive replica. He seemed to remember that there was a way to turn it off and after a few tries the thing made a little music and powered down. Amazed at the novelty of the device he was sure that someone would buy it just from his amusement alone. As soon as they were done with their usual delivery he knew just the man to sell this oddity to. With the exception of his trophies Hamilton never liked to keep too much stolen property on him for that long if he could help it. He figured his propensity for trophy collecting might get himself in trouble one day, but he just couldn't help himself. He was a hunter and hunters needed something to keep from their hunts. The driver hazarded a glance over his shoulder and asked,

"Man, what is that thing?" The handsome man grinned and answered,

"I think it was called a mobility telephone." At least that was what he recalled the name being when he had read it on the display at the museum of Ancient Earth antiquities all those years ago. The man didn't have much of a mind for schooling but valuable and rare things always had stood out in his mind.

"I guess what they say is true, a pretty face is worth the trouble. If that thing's legit." Said the driver excited. He'd heard of mobility telephones, but never seen one before, 'What a clunky piece of junk!' he thought as he clicked a button on his dashboard panel to signal that they were making a drop off to the warehouse. Just looking at that brick in Hamilton's hands really made him appreciate the modern society and technology he enjoyed.

"The pretty ones are always worth more, I just hope we get Jaxs tonight for collection, his tastes tend to affect the pricing." Declared Hamilton as he sat back into his chair and pocketed Rose's cell phone.

"Hey, if they don't give us a fair price we can always take our business elsewhere and maybe we can sell them for parts." Joked the driver as he parked the van inside a large hanger that had opened up for them. The door to the hanger closed and the hover van was lowered to a dirty sub level that seemed to be nothing more than a car park and endless rows of shelves with coffin like boxes awaiting shipments.

"Let's just get this done quick." Smirked Hamilton as he opened the doors to their van.

* * *

The Doctor had wasted no time making his way through the door of the TARDIS. For he had already wasted enough time in his opinion fighting his way up the streets through crowds like a salmon up stream. Once he was in the Doctor had jetted to the first door knowing that the TARDIS would have moved their room to help him. He then ran to the bathroom, grabbed Rose's hair brush and pulled a strand of her blonde hair from the brush. He let out a cheer of triumph and in what seemed like two steps later he was back in the console room using his sonic and setting up the bio-scanner to lock in on Rose's genetic code.

In a half hours' time he had his own personal Rose scanner ready for action to do a full planetary scan. He flipped a switch to activate it and after a few sweeps of the scanner, nothing happened. He double checked, triple checked. No results. The Doctor was not discouraged and he simply changed the settings focusing on different aspects of Rose's biology to lock on. He then tried several other scans before reluctantly doing one final scan an hour later. If something had happened to her it was possible that whatever happened might have 'changed her' enough to make his scan fall short of their mark. With heavy hearts he launched a scan for a large collection of dead tissue within parameters to pick up signs even if they were loosely based on Rose. It was only a few minutes for the scan to be complete but it seemed like a day to the Doctor. When that also came up with no results the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief but it was sort lived. Why wasn't anything coming up? It wasn't that big a planet, the TARDIS could scan whole planets twice the size as this one with ease. If Rose was not pinging on his radar then he was left with two options, either Rose was no longer on the planet, which in this time frame was unlikely, or something was blocking his scans. That seemed the most likely answer and made sense, bio-scan tech was primitive in this age, and it couldn't lock in on one person on a planet this big with pin point accuracy. You'd need to be within the limited scanning range and that only could give you a general area to look in. Wherever Rose was now must have some safeguards against scanning for missing people. They'd have to or they would have been found out ages ago. He had to admit that Officer…he completely forgotten to ask her name, well hopefully Jack got her name, anyway she was most likely right and he was dealing with a very sophisticated trafficking operation. And again they probably would be armed and the Doctor was not keen on materializing his TARDIS in front of a firing squad for a second time. He'd have to phone in Jack with his results or lack thereof.

"Wait Phone!" sang the Doctor with joy, if Rose still had her mobile phone on her he could lock onto that in no time at all. The Doctor fiddled with wires under the console and modified the TARDIS navigational controls to lock in on Rose phone. The Doctor jumped to his feet and then after a few strokes of the keyboard on the console top, the TARDIS was dematerializing and landing.

* * *

"Agent Harkness…" Started Holly but Jack interrupted,

"Just call me, Jack and you are? We kind of just recruited each other without a formal introduction." Jack was leaning back in the police hover vehicle and very much enjoying no longer being on his feet for the first time tonight. The car was by no means a luxury, it looked old and lived in, but it smelt okay and the cool breeze coming through the partially lowered windows was refreshing. If the circumstances were not as dire as they were, then Jack would have tried his luck at seducing the lovely officer and see if the night couldn't end in handcuffs in a good way. But Rose was in trouble and that took priority without a second thought.

"I'm Officer Holly Breaux, sir. But if you prefer informalities then Holly is fine. Anyway I need you to know that the chief has been reluctant to believe my gathered intelligence and evidence of organized kidnapping for a while now. You are a federal agent so I am banking on him believing you. Our department is strained but I'm sure they want to help you. But if you think that we can't handle it and you have to handle this situation using federal government agents, then please do." Said the officer in an all business voice as they approached the hover car port on top of the New Orleans City police department building. Holly was grateful that the air traffic had not been too bad and was excited to bring in the feds to the chief. Jack however, was hoping that psychic paper would be enough to convince since he didn't have any back up to bring even if he wanted, so he assured Holly that any resources although limited that she and her department could provide would be more than enough. The hover car landed and the two made their descent down to the chief of police's office.

'Finally we are going to put in motion the steps that will change this city for the better and save so many lives.' Sighed Holly to herself. She was feeling emboldened having a federal agent with her and by Jack's comforting and authoritative presence. They reached the chief's door, knocked and were let in.

* * *

The TARDIS materialized inside what appeared to be a medium sized shop on the second level of a building in a rougher part of New Orleans City. Papers swished about and disturbed the single occupant of the room. The Time Lord walked over to the TARDIS monitor and saw that there appeared to be only one person outside the TARDIS doors and he was armed. He was overweight and balding, but did not look like a push over. All around the man were cases of older and newer looking items for sale. A second hand store maybe. The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and stepped out, Rose's phone had been turned off but that wouldn't stop the TARDIS from finding it. Sure enough the man pulled a stun gun from under the counter of his shop and was waiting for an excuse to shot the stranger in his shop. But the Doctor was prepared and had pulled out his sonic screwdriver. With a whirr of the device the stun gun jammed and the Doctor angrily approached.

"What?" asked the fat man very confused.

"Where Is Rose?" growled the Doctor as he grabbed the man by his collar and pulled him over the counter top.

"You have someone I want back this instant now give her to me!" Roared the Doctor. The fat man was very intimidated by the icy blue eyed man and baffled as to who he was and why he was here.

"Look pal, this is just a pawn shop….I don't sell people here and I certainly don't buy them either. I'm sorry I pulled a gun on you, but what would you have done if a blue box just appeared out of nowhere? The hell let me go!" Begged the fat man. The Doctor released the man and changed the setting on his sonic and scanned it around the room. The Sonic locked in on a side of the room that had a very expensive looking case with very expensive merchandise in it. And among the trinkets was Rose's phone. The Doctor tried to open the case but it was locked, not a problem.

"Oi, you are not busting that lock, if you are going to rob me take something else and get out of here, I got a business to run." Yelled the man having regained some courage. The sonic made short work of the lock and the Doctor picked up Rose's phone.

"Oh no you don't, I paid good money for that antique and I intend ta sell it!" Shouted the fat man. The Doctor didn't care and turned around and shoving his sonic into the man's neck demanded,

"This is Rose's phone. She is never without it. Where did you get this from, and you better be honest about it because I am in no mood for lies!" He dug the sonic harder into the man's fat neck and he gulped.

"I just bought it not a half hour ago! One of my usual sellers brought it in and sold it to me. It's the genuine article but I convinced him it was just a replica and picked it up cheaper" The Doctor did not like the idea that he the Lord of Time had just missed possibly the person responsible for Rose's disappearance and growled,

"Who were they?" The fat man looked hesitant to give up the name of such a good seller but as he heard the device in the clearly dangerous man's hand starting up he croaked,

"Ham, he's called Ham. At least that's what he said his name was, I don't have any other name. He's usually in here selling clothing and jewelry. Always dressed sort of nice, figured he was some rich man's son with an expensive habit. I don't pry. Just let me go!" The Doctor threw the man to the ground, pocketed the phone and began to walk towards the TARDIS.

"That's mine, give it back you…!" shouted the fat man, but when the Doctor turned his head and glared at the man he was struck so hard with fear that he felt any object was a fair price just to be rid of the man. The leather clad man walked back into his time ship and the TARDIS disappeared.

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor changed his DNA scan to find Jack. The Time Lord would need to regroup because now he was out of options, no leads to follow and knew not what to do next. Where was Rose? He felt utterly helpless and for an all but immortal, supposedly, superior Time Lord that was frustrating. The Doctor pounded his fist on to the console and waited for the TARDIS to zero in on Jack and land.

* * *

"Just one picture, why didn't you take more?" Asked the Chief incredulously.

"Um, I haven't really learned all the settings yet. I can only get it to auto-take one shot." Admitted Holly quite sheepishly.

"Where'd you get this it's not department issued is it. Who cleared you to spend money on that?! We are pressed for resources these days, Officer. Holly looked indignant and defended,

"I bought it with my own money, sir. But that's not important. This is strong evidence to at least open an investigation!"

"This is ridiculously large lack of evidence, Officer for the scenario you've envisioned. I'll agree that it looks like the woman was assaulted and probably taken but that doesn't imply that it's part of a giant trafficking ring like you think. Just file a missing person's report and we will get on it.

"But chief if the feds are interested in these disappearance, then there has to be something to it, right?" begged Holly for understanding. The chief had seen Agent Harkness's ID and he was rightly impressed, terrified in fact, but there was no way he was going to launch an investigation. Jack could have sworn the man looked scared but he was still firm.

"Since when are the feds right about anything, don't they have enough to do with the recession? If you want to go on a wild goose chase then do so on your own time." Scoffed the chief.

"I am on my own time, sir and I think I will. Come on Jack we are going to find your friend." Announced Holly in a prideful voice as she all but dragged Jack out of the office. She then angrily marched down the hall and back up to the roof with Jack following. Holly then opened up the door to her squad car and sat down trying not to cry. She was just so frustrated, tired and beside herself with the problems she was constantly facing just trying to find and return loved ones to their families. She knew it was unprofessional, but she was tearing up and all Jack could do was put his arm around her and comfort her.

"I'm sorry, it just… I've always had a sense of justice ever since I was little and I just feel like justice is being undermined because it's too expensive to afford these days." Choked Holly. Jack rubbed the woman's shoulder and assured her that if anyone could help it was the Doctor.

That was when as if on cue the TARDIS materialized in front of Jack and Holly and she was flabbergasted. Right in front of her hover car was a blue box that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Where did it come from?" She asked but before Jack could answer the Doctor popped out of the blue box.

"Doc what are you doing here? Not that I don't mind being picked up, but weren't you going to find Rose?" Questioned Jack in a confused voice.

"Now I'm sure there is something blocking my scans of the planet. I can't lock in on Rose, but I can lock on your biological signature easily." Declared the Doctor.

"So then you haven't found Rose yet." Asked Jack very disappointed but wanting clarity. The Doctor was clearly just as upset, but was doing his best to mask it before his companion.

"No! I've tried every scan and I can't even find a trace of her…I even did a posthumous scan…" said the Doctor in irritation and bordering on despair. He pounded his hand on Holly squad car, and she cringed at the action but she could understand as she identified quite well with frustration right now. The Doctor was running out of ideas and his anxiety was feeding into Jack.

"Doc, I think whatever we are doing next we are doing on our own, the chief of police isn't giving us any help. Not even the ID persuaded him!" relayed Jack a bit on edge.

Holly observed at the two federal agents that were looking close to losing it and knew she had to take control, they may be some kind of higher government agents but she was still a local cop and knew the city of New Orleans like the back of her hand.

"Gentlemen calm down. We will find your friend! Even if I have to call in every favor from every beat cop and patrolperson I know. There are ways around the chief, I can't believe I even said that but, I give my word that if we just remain calm and keep our wits about us we will find the key to our problem!" Shouted Holly firmly.

"Key?" Asked the Doctor perking his slumped head up.

"Yes, the key to the problem." She repeated. The Doctor became quite excited at the officer's words and asked,

"What is your name Officer?!""

"Officer Holly Breaux, at your service." Answered the woman mechanically.

"Officer Breaux, you are a genius!" Shouted the Doctor as he kissed the woman's forehead, which flustered her a bit. The Doctor ran into the TARDIS and Jack and Holly followed behind.

"What is it Doc?" Asked Jack, who followed the Doctor, but Holly had stopped amazed by the size of the TARDIS on the inside.

"It's bigger on the inside, oh can it be…?" said Holly poking her head inside and outside the doors to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"Yes, it is Officer Holly Breaux, bigger on the inside. But the point is the 'key'. He then held out his own key as an example before pocketing it again. If Rose had her key on her I should be able to use the TARDIS to find it. Just like how I once tried to bring in the TARDIS with a key but reversed!" Laughed the Doctor as he danced about the console. He was going to find his Rose.

* * *

In an area of the planet's docking ports which looked rather disused and in disrepair, a blue box appeared on the darkened rooftop of one of the adjacent buildings. It was such a rickety looking thing, who would have thought that battle strategies were being discussed from within. It sat quietly as nearby humming spaceships came and went along the many docks that supplied the city with all its needs from planets all over the universe. Inside the TARDIS the Doctor surveyed the land and made note of entry points of the docking port cargo hangers that they would need to enter. The TARDIS did deep radar-like scans of the building and revealed that this abandoned looking place appeared to have large numbers of life forms inside. It was also oddly shaped inside and had tunnels under the street level leading who knew where. There even appeared to be two people guarding a street entrance from the shadows and they were armed. And if that wasn't enough of an oddity, a darkly colored vehicle had gone into the complex while they were planning their attack.

"Well here is where I drop you off, just stay out of sight until you are ready to strike. I'm taking what you said earlier seriously, Officer Holly. These are organized criminals, call back up, if you can, to distract em, but I am going to save Rose as soon as Jack and I are ready. That should give you twenty minutes to round up as many officers as you can." Said the Doctor has he put his Sonic into a slot that let out a painful hum before quieting.

"What was that?" asked Jack as he uncovered his ears.

"I just used the TARDIS to amplify a low pitch wave over to that building. Rose's TARDIS key is in. So I'm suspecting that a place with bio dampeners is well defended. I've fused shut any projectile and laser weapon inside. Sorry about the noise, just tells me it's working but our hosts won't have heard it, so no guns, gets rid of one danger." Declared the Doctor's in confidence.

"Yeah but they might have other weapons so we will have to still be careful, Doc. Rose is a hostage too." Explained Jack. The Doctor knew that Jack was right but at the same time he was not helpless.

"I know a thing or two about hand to hand combat. Don't worry about me." Assured the Doctor, the Doctor then told Jack to prepare himself for his end of the mission as the Time Lord saw Holly out of the TARDIS.

"You do what you have to do, Holly, as fast as you can." Said the Doctor as he closed the TARDIS door and left her alone outside. Holly sprang into immediate action, and pulled out her personal communication device. She couldn't risk a full call in for backup from the department for fear that it would be discredited, and that back up would be ordered not to come. She might risk her job over this but her sense of justice moved her forward. If she needed help she needed to get it from the side, so she opted for a method that seemed quite childish to her, but could easily be effective She sent out a group message to the officers on her social media friends list. If she was to succeed in gaining back up this was it and she needed it in less than twenty minutes.

**Author's Notes:** LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE! Ready to rescue Rose, folks? 'Cause I sure am. Tell me what you think. Also I have taken some advice and have tried to divide the chapter up to avoid confusion. Now if word would just stop fighting with me, I could get another chapter out faster.


	45. Chapter – 45 –Guns, Guns, and more guns

**Complicated**

By The Plot-Thinens

**Chapter – 45 –Guns, Guns, and more guns**

Hamilton lay back in a worn, but comfortable, sofa that was off to the side of the large 'cargo room'. There were several men idling about with him. Like many of his other 'colleagues' sitting with him, he was waiting for Jaxs to distribute their pay for the evening's work. There was still a tall left over pill of clothing to sort through but anything of value had already been picked off their victims and the rest could keep until later. Two of the men were laughing as they tried to remember how to play 'cat kind's cradle' with a long fine chain they had found among the livestock earlier. It had had an old looking metal key on it but that had been just taken off and thrown on the floor. Growing bored with their game one of the men yawned and hence spread the yawn about the group. Morning was coming soon and all the men were a bit cranky and itching to get their money so that they could either get off to bed or start back on their illegal and/or expensive hobbies again for another day. That was why they were surprised when another man, one of Jaxs' underlings, showed up with their pay.

"What happen to Jaxs?" asked Hamilton with mild concern as he fiddled with his trophies around his neck. The man explained that Jaxs was busy with an unexpected but welcomed guest, so he was just filling in. Everyone was still getting paid and there was nothing to worry about. The man handed out money in envelopes which each man carefully and greedily counted. Cash was old fashioned but not as easily traced as creds. The group then found themselves confused by an odd noise and a cool rush of air that seemed to come out of nowhere followed by a small blue box with glowing lights on it. The sudden presence of the box was unsettling but what really put the men on edge was one word on it. Police.

The Box just stood there ten feet away from their group next to the pile of clothes and the baffled men found themselves staring at it, waiting for it to do something. Which was why they found it odd that one man, and not a swat team, poked his head out of the box. Stranger still was that he didn't seem to even acknowledge or care about their presence as if they were of not more interest than pigeons walking about in a park. He just focused on something on the ground, an old worthless key.

The Doctor looked down on the ground in front of him and sure enough there was Rose's key that appeared to be not only missing from its chain but its owner as well. Rose had been mad at him earlier but there was nothing that would make him believe that she would have voluntarily parted with it even then unless she was incapacitated. That meant that someone had taken it from her, and if that picture he had seen of her earlier was anything to go by, it had been done while she was unconscious. Just the thought of someone having violated Rose, at all, made the Doctor angry. Unaware of the Time Lord's growing rage the men, in confused curiosity, watched the leather clad stranger as he continued to ignore the tough group of men he had inadvertently startled with the 'police box's' presence. The man picked up the key and reverently placed in into his pocket, then letting out a furious breath through flaring nostrils he glared at the group. The group felt as if they were in the company of some hungry wild cat and they, who moments ago felt all powerful and indestructible, were but new born lambs before him.

"Hello, might I ask which one of you poor excuses for life are called Ham, if he is here?" Growled the Doctor and the men felt unnerved despite themselves by the man's odd civility. They could tell that the man was anything but civil and he had a rage hiding in his eyes that could consume them all. Still he was just one man and he didn't seem to be even armed. It now appeared to even this band of lowlifes that this odd man would have to be just plain stupid to come here and insult dangerous men with nothing to defend himself. The absurdity of it made the men unwisely stop fearing the Doctor. Hamilton nonchalantly pulled a laser gun from the holster of the man next to him, signaling, to the man who's gun he was borrowing, as discreetly as possible that he had this covered.

"The name is Hamilton, and you are probably the dumbest man I've seen in a long time." Snarked Ham.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Retorted the Doctor, as he crossed his arms and glared at the man. Any patience that the Doctor had for conversation with this creature and his pointless bravado was already over.

"What do you want with me?!" Roared Hamilton as he pointed the weapon in his hand at the mysterious man's face. Seemingly unfazed by the gun in his face the Doctor announced,

"Ham, what have you done with Rose?"

"Rose? Oh the blond with the nice ass. Wouldn't you like to know?" Laughed Ham.

"Yes, I would." Said the Doctor plainly, then faster than Ham could have even registered the Doctor had grabbed Ham by his shirt collar and lifted him up in the air until his feet were dangling. Ham pulled the trigger of his gun on the Doctor but nothing happened. The Doctor then in what appeared to be some form of aikido smacked the irritating weapon from the man's hand. At this point the group of men had all pulled their respective weapons on the Doctor, but again he was not fazed. He knew that all of their weapons had been rendered useless. Most of the laser weapons wouldn't even boot up and cursing about cheap guns was hissed about the group. Even the one projectile weapon they had handy did not work as the owner found out as he tried to shoot the Doctor in the back. The men thought about rushing the dark haired man, but now found themselves interested to see what he would do next. Besides it wasn't like any of them were very close to Ham anyway. Presented with such a fascinating creature as the Doctor, the men had no problem watching him to see what he would do next. Much like tourists on a bus waiting to see what a lion would do next with its prey. Ham tried to speak but he was finding his tightly fitting shirt, usually used to bring in prey, was now choking him. Trying to free up room to breathe around his neck, the Doctor's attention was brought to the man's neck and that was when not only John's but his own memories he had collected with Rose as the Doctor set off a red alert. Rose's wedding ring was around this slimy creature's neck. His mind flashed back to John nervously placing the ring on Rose's finger, so worried that he would be a klutz and drop it. The smile of joy on her face and the association that ring had with that joy had now been replaced with the putrid scene before him. This man would pay for taking it off of Rose's hand. His Rose's wedding band, the only person who should ever have the right to take that ring off is Rose herself. And with the way he had been treating her, he was surprised that he hadn't driven her to do that already. Making the Doctor have to think about how loathsome a person he was, was not helping calm the Doctor down. He was so infuriated to see Rose's ring in such a wrong place that the Doctor grabbed at the chain and began to pull, cutting off the man's air supply. With his impressive Time Lord brain, he had already calculated 1034 ways he could apply pressure to the chain to result in the man's death. However, for the sake of any information the man could provide of Rose's location, he exercised restraint, but it was very hard to do. Instead he would threaten the man enough to wee himself. So might as well introduce himself.

"I'm the Doctor. I am the last member of an alien species that destroyed the Daleks and superior to you in every way. For example, my species has not only the ability to survive for quite a bit of time in the vacuum of space, but I can also use my respiratory bypass to gather air from my surroundings and take it in through my skin to breathe when my lungs are otherwise occupied or compromised. I am safely betting that you do not have such a feature in that fragile body of yours." Hissed the Doctor who then started to pull on the chain around Ham's neck harder.

"And if you don't tell me what you did with Rose, you are going to be wishing you had a respiratory bypass." Growled the Doctor. Ham's face started to turn blue and he signaled that he would comply with the Doctor's wishes. Satisfied that he got his point across, the Doctor tore off the chain without killing Ham, but enough to leave him with a nasty cut, and took back Rose's ring before throwing the man to the ground. After placing the ring safely into his pocket the Doctor again gave Ham his full attention.

"I'm only going to ask this one more time, Where is Rose?" Demanded the Doctor as he towered over Ham.

"I believe I can answer that question for the fed." Said a man as he came out of the shadows pointing another gun at the Doctor. Ham then took this moment to quickly scramble behind some nearby crates that were piled by the clothing to be used to box up all the unneeded apparel. The Doctor's focus was now off of Ham as the he focused his attention on this new threat.

* * *

Jack was crawling quietly through the vents of the building that Rose was supposedly in. The Doctor and Jack had shared their intelligence of the building and any information that they had gathered about the day. Jack knew to keep an eye out for this Ham guy and the Doctor knew in detail the unwillingness of the chief of Police to help. They just hoped that Holly could get some assistance to distract the building that was crawling with at least 30 of 40 criminals. As long as no one new came to the party then they would be fine as far as guns went. The Doctor had seen to making every weapon in the building useless, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be killed in a more brutal sense. Jack sighed, It was like he wasn't willing to get behind the Doctor on anything, but he really hoped they weren't walking to be slaughtered. It wasn't like he was going to live forever, but he wanted to live as long as he could. Jack finally got to the place that his navigator in his vortex manipulator signaled was closest to where the Doctor was going to materialize the TARDIS. Pulling out his squareness gun Jack cut a whole big enough out of the vent to crawl down. He jumped down to the ground and found himself in a room with many computers screens. Jack looked over the various open interactive screens and skimmed the information on them. 'Holy Cow, this is where all the orders get filed and stock categorized!' Jack hissed in anger as he brought up the order pages to find pictures and stats taken of countless unconscious people ready to order. It even listed who had been sold and what ship they had gone off on for neatness, he guessed. He was expecting people being trafficked in mass groups, sort a mystery grab bag of people sent off to market to be sold off, not specific descriptions like you were buying a used hover car. There weren't any names attached to any of these pictures, just descriptions, measurements and estimated age with each person. Meaning it would probably be impossible for him to find Rose or Don unless…unless there was a search engine based on types. He ran to another screen and sure enough you could write in multiple descriptions based on what you wanted. He punched in Don's description to see if it would work, and after scrolling down a list of 30 he found a photo of Don! But he had already been shipped out! Jack's heart sank into his stomach and he hurriedly wrote in Rose description….Human…Blond….Female…20s….

The computer ran its search and he was horrified how many results came up of sold and unsold stock. He would have to narrow the search even more! What else did he know about Rose? Hazel eyes…Still didn't narrow it down enough! Jack racked his mind for anything else and that was when he remembered, that once John Smith had told him that Rose was about five or six inches shorter than him! He couldn't even remember how it had come up, but Jack remembered having jokingly asked if that made Rose at the perfect kissing height for John. He had blushed and told Jack to not pry into his love life. The Doctor was about the same height as him and Jack was about 6 feet tall. Jack typed in 5 foot 5 inches and ten women later there was Rose. That was when Jack felt his heart sink for second time in that room. Under Rose description read **EN-ROUTE**! Rose had already been sent out and on the same ship as Don, apparently he had not sold as fast! All he had was a ship name and no destination! Jack had to tell the Doctor, they had to find Rose fast on Cargo Shuttle, Mal Loup 09 while it was still hope of them tracking it. Jack quietly exited the room and made his way down the hall toward the unmistakable sound of the Doctor enraged. Unfortunately for Jack he was unaware that someone else was investigating on Jack's activities as well.

* * *

"And who the hell are you then?" Asked the Doctor irritated at the interruption. The man holding the gun smiled and replied,

"A man that does not like the feds snooping around his city. Chief of police of New Orleans City, at your service, now stop playing dumb, Fed. Now how did you find this place, who else knows about it and where is your other fed friend?" The chief did not like at all that thanks to the feds he had been forced to get his hands dirty and come down to shipping end of the business just to stop some federal agents that didn't know when to give up. He had been worried for the operation the moment he saw Jack in his office. If the feds were involved then he was worried that his communication lines had possibly been compromised and he had left to warn his operation to beef up security and be wary of the feds. Though that was just precautionary. He never dreamed that the feds as incompetent and underfunded as they were would ever have actually found where his trafficking ring was situated. And if they knew, then he wanted to know how many other people now knew. That information would be vital to his next moves.

Not wanting to give away Jack, the Doctor simply stated that he was the only one here. That information would have been welcomed intelligence to the Chief but he suspected otherwise. These suspicions were only reinforced when the Chief received in coming communication on his wrist communicator. Not taking his eyes off the Doctor, he answered the call, it was Jaxs. The two had been talking about the feds before when they were made aware of the disturbance caused by the man now in front of the Chief at gun point. The Chief had gone on ahead to see what about while Jaxs had agreed to go secure the records which would cause disaster if they fell into the wrong hands. Now from the same room that Jack had only just left a few minutes ago a voice said,

"They were in the record office, sir. And they left the browser window open on this bit of nice little piece of livestock. Sold for a pretty big chunk of cash too even though her profile said she was 'slightly' used. Most likely a person of interest to the feds that they want back. Might be a fed too, sir."

"Really well then we shall have to do something about that. Send a relay to the ship. Tell them that we are going to reimburse a buyer for some badly damaged property in that containment box. And when I say damaged, I mean it's to be unrecoverable." Said the Chief who then turned his attention to the Doctor,

"Understand it will take a few minutes to reach that deep into space but when it does. We'll just take care of your friend for you. But until that happens I think we can just hold you at gun point until we get a response." Jaxs laughed in kind and confirmed that the order had been sent out and would be confirmed in minutes.

"Well that one fed as good as dead." Smiled the Chief into the face of the fuming Doctor.

The doctor was on edge, these men were going to kill Rose and enjoy it! And at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it. He realized that he didn't know when the Chief of police had come into the building. He had seen a dark car pull into the building but that didn't mean it had been the Chief. That gun could be active and the Doctor didn't think he could be quick enough with the sonic to disarm him. But Rose was in danger, what were they going to do to her? All he knew was that they were going to kill her. And he could not let that happen. He would die if he let that happen in more ways than one at this point. The doctor was seriously considering just charging the man at the thought of Rose in danger. He needed to do something fast. 'It's just a laser blast. I can survive one laser blast, yeah? Well long enough to help Rose hopefully.' Thought the Doctor.

"Freeze!" Shouted Jack as he aimed his gun at the Chief from the side.

"Always wanted to say that to a cop, huh 'Chief'." Smirked Jack, thinking he had the upper hand. Unfortunately Jack had not seen Ham slipping out of sight earlier and although he did not have a gun to shoot their new surprise guest, Ham could distract him. Ham looked up and saw his distraction the crates for clothing. With a strong shove he toppled large crates into Jack's path and the man had to jump to the side to avoid them. Jack then tripped over some debris on the floor and dropped his gun which then. The Chief rolled his eyes at Jack and quickly maneuvered himself around the Doctor affectively using him as a shield and said in the calmest voice,

"Boys first one to hit him gets a huge bonus." That was all the incentive the group of men needed and they darted for Jack. Jack scrambled for his gun as the men all about the room were closing in on him. Jack managed to grab the gun but the Captain was now pinned down and he was in no position to threaten the gunman threatening the Doctor. He might be able to shoot a few of the men now cautiously positioned around him, but he couldn't shoot them all and even if he did there was still the Chief with his gun too. Jack contemplated his hopeless odds and started to back up into a corner worried that a few of the smaller men were trying to maneuver around him to attack him from behind. Maybe he could shoot the Chief but that still left a heck of a fight afterwards. The Doctor saw movement coming from behind the group and it was going unnoticed by everyone but him. It had to be Holly there was no one else. Banking on that thought the Time Lord needed to make sure the Chief and his lackeys did not see them if he wanted any hope to go to Rose's aid quickly.

"Always comes down to money doesn't it? It's always about money with you lot. No matter the century, there is always greedy snakes like you. Who cares about the cost of human life or the families you hurt when you can be just a little more comfortable before you die? You all sicken me the way you deal with people's lives as if they were cattle at market."

"Oh we have a moralist among us, boys. A soon to be dead one anyway." Laughed the Chief as he shoved the Gun into the back of the Doctor's head. There was probably no way he would regenerate after a laser frag bullet to the head, but undaunted the Doctor continued to distract the Chief.

"Things get out of hand for you, Chief? Trying to run a small business on the side, but you got too big too fast didn't you? People started noticing something was wrong. I'm sure you could have kept the police busy looking the other way for a while, but you knew this was coming eventually. Slavers are like rats, if you don't stomp em down more of em just keep showing up wanting their share." Thundered the Doctor.

"Shut up, fed. I'm not doing this alone, a few like minded individual in the government are just as interested in riding out the recession in relative comfort as I am. Once I get rid of you feds, I'm sure that we can get someone to make your lives and your investigation disappear. Then business can go back to normal." The Chief hissed, now at the end of his patience.

Suddenly a taping noise was heard on the ground and a metal ball rolled to the middle of the room before stopping. The Chief recognized it and closed his eyes but that couldn't stop the flashing lights that followed. Strobing lights filled the place and the room was thrown into confusion as the three entrances into the room where blocked by police officers in protective glasses, some were also in riot gear and others in just their standard uniforms. The lights stopped and Officer Holly along with 56 other officers had their guns trained on every person in the room. The Chief and his lackeys were surrounded.

"That's enough, Sir. You and your associates are under arrest for more charges than I can name right now but trafficking people will due for the moment. Put your gun down sir, we will use deadly force." Said Holly in a voice that was all business. The Chief a bit blinded by the lights from earlier put his gun on the ground in disbelief. Knowing that at least for him it was over he shoved the Doctor away from him.

"This is impossible?! I've spent years making the department into an unworkable mess of bureaucracy! Nothing can get done but crowd control and the odd high profile murder investigation! How were you able to call in so many officers without even a centralized call on the official line?" Asked the Chief of Police in astonishment at Officer Breaux.

"Never underestimate the motivation of disgruntled employees, Chief. I'm not the only one on the force who would jump at a shot to finally help save lives in danger. That's kind of why a lot of us became cops in the first place, sir." Declared Holly as she kept her gun trained on the Chief of police, as one of her fellow officers cuffed him.

"Well unlike you long suffering beat cops. I wasn't interested in taking a pay cut after 25 years of service just because a few politicians fudged our budget and economy. I don't see them taking a pay cut, but I have to?"

"Pay checks? Always about money, no matter when…" Grumbled the Doctor as officers quickly took control of the room.

"Holly! We've found people unconscious in boxes on practically every floor. They are trafficking victims. We are going to need ambulances, lots of them! I'll make the calls!" Shouted one male officer. Through this orderly chaos the police began categorizing the criminals they apprehended and then one more criminal had been found hiding and was brought into the room. It was Jaxs who was marched in, in handcuffs, but with a smirk on his face when he saw the two men he assumed were the federal agents.

"Order has been confirmed to destroy the property." He smirked. The Doctor found himself filled with anger at the man and then crippling fear. Rose was going to be killed and he didn't even know where she was. Jack saw the look of despair on the Doctor's face and pulling at the Doctor's side he shouted,

"Doc, I found out the name of the ship. If we can track it down we could still save Rose! Mal Loup 09, we have to find it!" Holly easily noticed the distress of her two new friends and thinking fast looked to her fellow officer that she had pulled out of air traffic control nearby.

"Du Bois, I need a record of every ship that had passed through the ports in this district in the past 6 hours. It's called, Mal Loup, but that could be a codename." Ordered Holly. Du Bois pulled up her wrist computer and within a minute she had found the ship by name and it matched emissions trails closed to the area. It wasn't a fake name.

"Ma'am, these are the estimated coordinates!" Declared Du Bois. The Doctor read the coordinates, memorized them and ran for the TARDIS with Jack close behind.

"We have it covered here! Doctor, save Rose!" Shouted Holly, but she was sure the Doctor didn't hear her. Jack just managed to get inside the TARDIS as the doors snapped shut behind him. The Doctor punched in the coordinates and the TARDIS dematerialized. It didn't take long to find the ship and the Doctor set the TARDIS up to land inside the space cargo ship that contained Rose.

'Hold on, Rose. I'm coming. Please be safe.' Thought the Doctor to himself as he ran about the TARDIS preparing for landing. Jack stayed off to the side and made sure that his weapon was working properly after its fall before. He looked to his side and found a stun gun as well, apparently the TARDIS was giving him a hint and he knew to take it.

"Thanks doll." Said Jack to the TARDIS and he stroked the nearest coral strut. The TARDIS then came to a stop and the Doctor ran a scan. Rose did not come up but he was not bothered by this and with the press of a button a shrieking noise resonated throughout the TARDIS. Jack again cover his poor long suffering ears and looked to the Doctor for an explanation.

"Wasn't anything that I could do about dampening fields from the outside but now that we are on the inside, this ship isn't masking bio signatures anymore, thanks to the TARDIS." Explained the Doctor as he fiddled with his sonic while he looked to the monitor on the TARDIS console. Seeing that no one was directly outside, he then ran to the TARDIS entrance and opened the doors.

"I've got a lock on Rose's bio signature, Jack. I'm going to her! You find the captain of this ship and take over!" Ordered the Doctor as he held up the sonic screwdriver and ran for the cargo bay. Jack was left to take on who knew how many crew members on his own. He had worse odds and he at least had the element of surprise for the moment. Normally the Doctor would have felt bad about leaving such a large mess for Jack to take care of on his own, but he had to find Rose. Both understood the importance of their own missions and both understood that they were equally risky. The Doctor adjusted the range on his sonic to compensate for some interference and at seeing the flash of gold of the ring on the casing, he ran even faster than he ever had before. He needed to see her smile again more than he needed air and as the sonic blinked faster his hearts sped up with every blinks. He was getting closer, Rose was just behind a few more doors and Rassilion help anyone who tried to get in his way.

**Author's Notes:** What will happen next? Will the Doctor and Jack save Rose in time? Will Rose be hurt? Any comments? I promise you giant Jupiter sized fluff cake in the next chapter; I hope you are all excited. Next chapter is entitled…Sleeping Beauty.


	46. Chapter 46 - Sleeping Beauty

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 46 - Sleeping Beauty**

Captain Jack was in his element. He was given the task to sneak by, undetected, through enemy territory and assume control of an enemy ship. No problem. Jack crept up along the corridors which were clearly marked and pointed out all paths to key locations on the ship. Apparently this was the kind of vessel that saw a large turn over, so it must have seemed a timesaver way to familiarized new crew with the ship's layout. How convenient for him. At least he hoped that was the case and he wasn't falling into a trap. Being with the Doctor for so long must have made him paranoid about trouble finding him.

The first person that Jack encountered from behind. He appeared to be some form of lizard man. Taking the TARDIS's apparent advice, he pulled out his stun gun and waited for the thick skinned man to turn the corner and walk past him. The man did just that and still staying out of sight, Jack knocked the unsuspecting man out with a snap from the nonlethal gun. However, his falling down was quickly noticed by another crew man who ran up to his fallen comrade only to get much of the same from Jack when he went to check on his fellow crewman. The crewman fell over like a sack of potatoes and Jack kissed the stun gun.

'Two birds one hiding place! TARDIS, who I loves ya baby?' Cheered Jack to himself and he hoped that all the people on this ship were such pushovers.

* * *

'**Warning. Conditions not suitable for life forms. Little to no air in cargo bay during flight. Do not enter.' **The sign outside the cargo bay read to warn anyone who might blunder their way into trouble.

The Doctor was not too concerned by the ominous warning in bold letters on the door. He needed to get to Rose before anything happened to her and he was already worried that he was too late. He could survive without air longer than Rose could, of that he was certain. There was nothing for it then to take a deep breath, walk in and hope any additional air, no matter how minuscule, could be absorbed through his skin. Holding his breath, he used his sonic to open the door. With a hiss of air he entered the room which the door then hissed shut behind him. He'd better hurry. The Doctor held up the sonic and used it not only to aid as an additional light source in the darkened room, but to track down Rose's bio signature.

It was nothing but electronic looking coffins stacked on racks 4 levels high for as far as his eyes could see in the barely lit corridors that made up the cargo bay of Mal Loup 09. It wasn't a vacuum that he was in, the Doctor could survive that for a few minutes anyway even if it was. But as the sign read the oxygen was still all but nonexistent in the cargo bay. As he looked among the rows and rows of coffins shaped boxes he also looked through the windows of the containment boxes hoping to find the familiar face that he longed for. Again and again he saw eerily peaceful faces unaware of the danger they were in. And the more deathly pale faces he saw, that were not Rose, the more he couldn't shake the thought that he had picked the wrong ship somehow and Rose was being whisked off to some other unknown location never to be seen again. But the sonic finally settled on one coffin-like box on the bottom row and with a tug of the handle on the side of it the box slid out of its rack and in the tiny window was a vision of loveliness. There he could see through the window was Rose, her hair was loose and accenting her face beautifully. He wanted to kiss her through the glass, he was so full of joy to see her, if he were honest with himself. He would have been left breathless if he wasn't already when he walked into the cargo bay. Something troubled the Doctor about her appearance though. Rose's eyes were closed and she appeared to be dead, at least he hoped that was only in appearance.

Jack had finally reached the bridge of the ship and with only having to take out two more crewmen. He looked through the porthole-like window in the door that led to the bridge and there were two men in there. At least he hoped that was all who was in there. As quiet as he could he opened the door and slipped in.

"Captain, we got the ordered, no sense delaying the inevitable. I brought up the right profile, just one touch of a button." Said the first mate in a voice that sounded a bit too eager for what needed to be done. The first mate was a genius when it came to space ships but he was never right in the head. He had not joined up with this crew for the money. He could have cared less about the money. He was in love with the idea of being lord over so many people. He gulped in air to calm himself down. He fantasized about the unconscious victims below that he was all powerful and godlike to by comparison in his head. Just the thought of later finding the lifeless body of his soon to be new victim and playing with it a bit before jettisoning it out of an airlock filled him with sickening pleasure.

"Messy business to clean up afterwards. Go ahead if you want to so bad, but you make the mess you clean it up." Sighed the long suffering captain, his first mate nodded his head in complete agreement. He didn't know why it was so important to kill off one bit of cargo but he didn't disobey orders. He was just in charge of getting things from point A to B, nothing more. The happy first mate's hands hovered over the button, relishing in his godlike power over one little life that he didn't even know.

"Keep away from that button! Hands where I can see em!" Shouted Jack as he pointed his stun gun at the two men. Slowly the two men turned around to face him with their hands in the air. They were quite surprise to say the least. Jack yelled for the two to step away from the controls, but the first mate could not stop what he had set himself up to enjoy. Just knowing that he was forbidden to push the red button next to him made it all the more tempting and the fact that it would hurt more than one person by doing so was too enticing to pass up. He began to salivate slightly and in a motion quicker than most could think the man slapped the forbidden button.

'Subject Termination Initiated.' Said a female computer voice over bridge intercom. Jack saw red and began to fire his stun gun at the two men.

"Bastard!" Shouted Jack as he took out the first mate, wishing that he had had his squareness gun pulled out so he could have cut a hole through the terrible man if he wanted. As the first mate slumped to the ground the captain grabbed for his side arm and hid behind part of the control panel, bunkering himself in between Jack and the button that needed to be 'unpushed' right away! The Captain started poking his head around the controls and firing at Jack who himself hid behind a chair fixed to the floor. Jack's mind started racing and the battle between captains began.

* * *

The Doctor pulled open the vitals stat monitor on the side of the box and if he wasn't holding his breath he would have let out a sigh of relief. She was still alive. Now he only needed to get her out of here, which would not be difficult. The red cloak drug would keep her safe until he could carry her out of the room. Then he could find a way to reverse the affect. Things were seemingly going the Doctor's way. And that was when it all went to hell.

Suddenly red lights around the window of the box began flashing and to the Doctor's horror some kind of gas fogged up the window, obscuring Rose's face. When the gas cleared the Doctor began to panic as Rose had not only woken up, but was gasping for air and banging on the box in a panic. It must be the chemical used to wake up a red cloaked victim! The Doctor now had to get to Rose and get her out of that box and this room before she asphyxiated! The Doctor used the sonic to override the impressive locking mechanism on the containment box and with a hiss it opened. It was then that the Doctor also realized that Rose was not only without air but also without clothes too. She was naked and the Doctor pulled her close to him for any warmth he could offer while she thrashed about for air. The Doctor needed her to calm down so he could move her as he finished picking her up bridal style and started making for the path back to the exit. Rose through hazy eyes finally recognized the Doctor and grasped at her throat still not getting enough air. The Doctor knew that she needed air this moment and seeing Rose in such distress made him act on instinct. If Rose needed air then he would give her the most ready available supply he had. Putting his lips around rose's mouth the Time Lord breathed the remaining air he had in his lungs into Rose's mouth, which she greedily and gratefully took, pulling him closer to get at it. Rose now knowing her surroundings smiled up at the Doctor as she held his breath in her lungs. The Doctor truly did need her smile more than air. The Doctor was now getting a bit heady and not from his odd kiss with Rose. Trying to pull what little air was in the air through his skin the Doctor marched to the door and soniced it open. They heard a hiss of air and the two stumbled onto the floor gasping for oxygen that was now in steady supply as the door closed behind them. The Doctor was very happy that they were alive but the Doctor couldn't help but notice that Rose, as she lay hunched over catching her breath, was shivering. The Doctor then took off his heavy leather coat and put it over Rose's shoulders. Grateful for the warmth Rose snuggled into the jacket and in a very hoarse voice said thanks. The Doctor then pulled Rose to him and gave her a giant hug.

"You had me worried there, you did." Said the Doctor in a pained voice. Rose rested her head on the Doctor's chest and replied,

"I had myself worried too." The Doctor thought about making a comment about her wandering off, but he was just so glad that she was safe that he couldn't do anything but hold her.

"I'm sorry Rose, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn't been…" Choked the Doctor, but Rose silenced him with her finger on his lips and said that they could talk later back on the TARDIS when they both had settled down from their ordeal. Right now after nearly asphyxiating all the blond wanted to do was hug. Rose nuzzled her nose cold against the side of the Doctor's face and the Doctor gently caressed the woman's blond hair covered head. Their tender moment lasted a bit longer until a flirtatious voice cracked over the intercom.

"This is your Sexy Captain, Jack Harkness, speaking. This ship has been successfully commandeered by the more handsome captain. Returning to port. Oh and Doc, I can see you cuddling with an all but naked Rose on the floor down there. Shame on you. Can't you wait to get back to your room?" Said Jack drunk with happiness at finally seeing both of his friends alive and well. The Doctor looked about for a camera and tried to shield a blushing Rose from prying eyes. Rose couldn't help but notice that the Doctor was not pushing her away this time, after Jack snarky comment. The doctor finally spotted the camera, apparently some parts of the ship did have surveillance. The Doctor lifted his Sonic to the camera and it exploded. After it was done smoking, Jack piped up again over the intercom,

"Spoil sport." Rose tried to get to her feet but found them quite shaky and almost fell over if the Doctor had not caught her.

"Relax, I'll carry you back to the TARDIS. You've had a busy day." Assured the Doctor as he once more picked up Rose bridal style and carried her back to the TARDIS.

* * *

A half hour later, at full speed, the Mal Loup 09 had finally met up with space traffic control from its port of origin on New Orleans and they were informed that they were to be boarded, which Jack did not object to one way or another. He gladly let the cops take away the men and strongly pointed out the one he felt needed to have his head examined. For the most part Jack had to handle everything as the Doctor and Rose had not yet come out of the TARDIS. Jack wanted to check in on them but he was too busy helping the police find all the missing people about the ship. When they had finally docked back in New Orleans City, Holly had joined Jack at the docking bay as Red cloaked victims were being revitalized before being taken out of their boxes and loaded into ambulances.

"Jack, is Rose okay? Did you save her in time?" Asked Holly with concern. Jack assured her that Rose was just fine and that the Doctor and Rose were most likely enjoying their alone time in the blue box. Holly blushed but said no more on the subject, there was plenty of work to be done.

The busting open of the trafficking ring had brought a large crowd of onlookers and news coverage and the police were hard pressed to keep them back. Jack spotted Lana in the crowd and flagged the cops to let her by and as if on cue Don's crate was brought out of the ship. Jack had jumped for joy at the sight of Don and Lana cried tears of joy as he was brought back to life it seemed. The paramedics tried to keep her back but a mother could not be kept from her child. Lana hugged her son who was very dazed and confused.

"Mum? Why am I..? Here, did I get? Why am I naked?" Asked Don before hiding his lower half with a blanket from the paramedics. Lana laughed at his modesty, she had changed his diapers so what did she care, but she understood that with all the camera's taking pictures why he felt the need for privacy. She was overcome with another wave of joy at the sight of her son and kissed him on the cheek.

"My boy, oh God, it's my boy! He's back! He's back!" She cried and then pulled Jack into a hug along with her son.

"Jack you are my angel! I'll never be able to repay you!" Cried Lana, but Jack assured her that she owed him nothing but the smile on her face. Don was loaded up onto the ambulance with his mother and they were off to the closest hospital that wasn't already loaded to capacity. Holly had been standing back but now she approached Jack again.

"I know now that you are not really federal agents, Jack. But whatever you are, thank you. Thanks to you so many people will be reunited with their loved ones. And since the crooks kept such good records, we stand a good chance of finding a lot of the people they sold off. You helped give this city its police department back. And boy do we have our hands full investigating what other political government head knew about this, but we'll rat them out." Said Holly. Jack shook hands with Holly and declared,

"You know you are wasted as a beat cop you should be chief, they need one now I bet." Holly laughed and replied,

"Well time will tell, but for the moment, I seem to be the acting head of the department at the moment. At least everyone is deferring to me after staging this whole bust." Jack again congratulated the woman on being a good cop and being true to her sense of justice.

"Now if you don't mind, Jack. This is official police business and I must ask you to stand back from the crime scene please, sir." Smiled Holly in mock seriousness. Jack winked at her and agreed with a nod.

"Well then, in that case, if you excuse me. If I hurry I might be able to…" Jack trailed off and waved good-bye to Holly before running back to the TARDIS. Rose and the Doctor had been alone for about two hours now and he was curious as to what they had gotten up to.

* * *

"You're kidding me? Even after the naked hug you just took her to the infirmary? I was expecting you to …to, well…" Said Jack in a disappointed voice when he found Rose sitting up in the infirmary bed, clothed and covered in blankets, while the Doctor was behind monitors at the med bay computer.

"What Jack?" Asked the Doctor in an irritated voice, Jack realized that he had over stepped his boundaries and shut up.

"We didn't go straight to the infirmary, Jack. The Doctor took me back to the bedroom. And before you get excited it was because I insisted on a shower and getting on some clean clothes first. Understandably when the Doctor told me what happened, I felt a bit violated." Said Rose with a shiver that made the Doctor feel pain for her. Rose then went on to explain that the Doctor had been against it and wanted to get her checked out first, but he had consented as long as he could stay outside the bathroom door to listen in case she had troubles. She also had agreed that after getting dressed she promised to come with him to the infirmary.

"We've really only been in here about an hour." Said Rose as she tried to relax in the infirmary bed. It was hard to calm down with the Doctor flying about all over running tests and taking samples from her.

"An hour what's taking so long? All the other red cloaked victims are just going to hospital as a precautionary. Turns out even the ones who have been on ice for over a month don't seem to have any tissue damage. They all appear to be one dosage recipients. No ill effects were detected from the people on the ship, I can't speak for the people who were left in the warehouse, but I think they are fine too. That drug just keeps revitalizing the same cells until it wears off. They literally have not changed in months some of them. People are just delighted that they are as they remembered them." Lectured Jack. The Doctor tried to finish yet another blood test and a body scan but the TARDIS just kept displaying a happy face over the results. The Doctor grumbled to his companions something about the TARDIS med bay computers giving him grief and then said out loud to the TARDIS,

"This is no time to play games, old girl. I need to know that Rose is okay." Jack assured the Doctor that if the TARDIS was playing tricks then Rose must be okay, as she would never do something to harm Rose. For he knew for a fact that the TARDIS really liked Rose. The Doctor went about gently applying first aid to the syringe wound on Rose's neck. It was already almost healed thanks to the red cloak drug but he wanted to use the Sonic to clean and close the wound the rest of the way. Then just to be safe the Doctor ran his sonic across Rose's head and her eyes crossed slighting, trying to watch what he was doing around her forehead with the Sonic. The Doctor at least wanted to know that Rose's lack of oxygen had not caused any brain damage. After scanning her head with his sonic the Doctor surveyed the results and announced,

"Congratulations, Rose Tyler. According to my scan you have no brain damage. You also will live about 150 days longer than you normally would have thanks to the red cloak chemical playing with your cells. You should start aging and growing normal cells again in about five months time though. Nothing to worry about."

"So what are you going to do with all your extra time?" Asked Jack with a smile from the hallway door of the infirmary. Rose let out a sigh and with hope on her voice she said to the Doctor in earnest,

"Five extra months? Not too shabby, if it means I get to spend it with the man who rescued me."

The Doctor's ears started to go red and Rose reached up to pat his shoulder to comfort him when she realized that her wedding ring was missing from her hand, she then noticed that her TARDIS key was also missing too! She put her hand on her chest feeling for the phantom key and then back again at her missing ring. She had lost both symbols she had been given to her by the man standing at her side. She felt heartbroken and even more violated that they had been taken from her in her sleep. She was pretty sure that the key could be replaced but her ring from John, the Doctor, could not be and she began to start to cry in spite of herself. The Doctor may have saved her but their relationship was still in a precarious place and now she felt as if her final connection to her husband had been severed. The Doctor who had been for the past hour been watching Rose's every move like a hawk wasn't a fool and knew what was upsetting Rose from her gestures alone. He turned his head to Jack and gave him a look that screamed, leave the room and don't stop walking away until you've gone for a mile. Jack smiled nervously and left the infirmary to be anywhere else. Satisfied that they were alone, the Doctor got down to Rose's level getting on one knee to do it. Then before he realized that what he was about to do resembled something else, he had pulled out the ring and placed it in Rose's hand. The similarities of his movements to something else had not gone unnoticed by Rose either and she found herself for a moment breathless until the Doctor had placed the ring in her hand and closed her hands around it. The Doctor presenting the ring to her had felt like a second proposal and the Doctor had seen that very emotion in her eyes. He began to start to blush and knew that he had to say what he had to in a hurry or risk appearing redder than the blond before him's namesake.

"I got this back for you. I'm so sorry that it was taken from you. I know it's important…I we'll talk more when you're feeling better, I promise. Just rest for now, I'll be back later." Said the Doctor very quickly, he then placed two things down on the bedside table next to Rose and left the room with very visibly pinked ears. Rose was touched by the gesture. She had thought that she had lost the ring forever to greedy slavers and now one of her most treasured possessions had been restored to her and by the man she had least expected. He certainly didn't have to get it back for her but she was grateful that he did. Rose slipped the ring back on her ring finger and reverently looked at it before turning her head to the side toward the bedside table. She had seen the Doctor place something there earlier and now after investigating she saw that it was her TARDIS key and her mobile. He had found those for her too. She didn't know how he had managed to find them all but she thought it all very sweet. If she had been in a more joking mood she might have thought that it would have been nice if he could have got her clothes back for her too, but he had retrieved the most difficult to replace things so no sense in complaining. Rose giggled at how red his ears always got when the Doctor was nervous, that had not changed about him. John would do that too, the two men had so many parallels it was amazing. Well technically they were still the same person. She reflected on how shy the Doctor had seemed before. He was trying to show her affection but he had been too bashful to do it for long.

"Doctor, or John, you're still my shy guy." Smiled Rose to herself and leaned back to get some sleep. She was so tired and even as she drifted off she wondered what the Doctor had in mind for a talk. She guessed that she would find out soon enough.

* * *

Rose and John had been dating two months now and before she knew it, she had been staying over John's house for the night in her own little room whenever she had a late shift. But eventually it seemed that she really didn't need an excuse to stay overnight at all. A few weeks after that, she was essentially his live in girlfriend. John had not protested the idea, in fact, he had encouraged it in the most respectful and gentlemanly way he could. He liked having Rose near him and the comfort of knowing that she was safe and sound at night in his house, well their house now. This subject was something that Rose heard no end of from her mother, especially since John's first introduction to her mother. The poor man was still traumatized. And quite frankly she was thankful that he had not called off the relationship after that, because she would not have blamed him. Rose at first had been scared to tell her mother that she was now dating a man old enough to be her father. But she was even more scared to tell her that she had agreed to live with him. Even though it was in her own room in his home and had the defense that it was ridiculously close to her job. Quite big things to drop on your mother all at once, but she had finally built up the courage to bring him home to Mum and explain the nature of their relationship.

Jackie had been expecting a plumber to come to fix her kitchen sink. She was expecting him in an hour or so, so she was in her room getting cleaned up. She was not expecting Rose though. She then heard Rose's signature way of opening the front door and knowing it was Rose took no further interest. It wasn't like Rose was a stranger to the flat and Rose could wait for Jackie to finish getting dressed before greeting her properly. But when John had followed Rose in through the front door, Jackie had thought that not only must he be the plumber a bit early than expect, but that he was also a bit fit. Rose had not announced herself when she had unlocked the door and had gone on to the kitchen looking ahead for her mother. She wanted to ease her into the new information. John had stopped in the hallway just outside the living room, he was very nervous and afraid to go deeper into the lion's den.

Unfortunately, Rose had had tunnel vision and had not noticed her mother's half open door where John was patiently waiting for Rose and her mother to appear. Jackie seeing the attractive older man opened her bed room door all the way and looked John up and down. She figured that as long as he got the job done, and not just the sink, it probably didn't matter to his business if he stayed for an hour longer or two than normally needed to finish his house call. When her eyes were coming back up to his head, John had finally noticed Jackie and stared back at the woman who was obviously his girlfriend's mother. It already didn't help his confidence that she looked younger than him, but what scared him more was what the woman said to him next.

"I'm in my dressing gown." Said Jackie in a sultry voice to the nervous man. John was caught off guard by Jackie and all but jumped out of his skin. When we settled back down on the ground he averted his eyes, afraid that he had rudely caught his girlfriend's mother in a state of undress.

"Yes, you are." Answered John embarrassed and turning his head away from her and pondered all manners of apology to her.

"There's a strange man in my bedroom." Said Jackie matter-of-factly. John was horrified at the bad impression he was making and even more so that she thought that he was in her bedroom. He was sure that he was in the hallway and even checked back to look at the door frame to make sure to himself that he was. To his horror a bit of the tip of his toe was in the door frame and he quickly pulled it out as he apologetically said,

"Yes, there is."

"Well, anything could happen." Declared Jackie as she slightly opened her dressing gown to reveal a silken nightgown underneath and that was when all red flags went up and John shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Rose!" And ran in the direction he had seen her go. The afternoon had sadly not gone up from there as Jackie spent most of it trying to convince Rose that John was too old for her. John had all but hid like a scared child behind Rose away from his girlfriend's mother who had made a pass at him. He was very afraid of Jackie and although he had taken quite a bit of abuse from Jackie, he just parroted the whole time until the plumber finally showed up that he cared for Rose deeply, that she was the most important person to him in the world and that he was not some old pervert. If there was ever a man that was attracted to her mind probably over her looks it was John and Rose equally defended him from Jackie. Once the plumber had arrived Rose told her mother that she was going to be moving in full time with John and she was just going to have to get used to it. Along with other arguments in favor of why what her mother thought was a bad idea was, in fact, a good one. It was probably a bit cowardly but while Jackie was busy instructing the actual plumber, who was not as good looking as Rose's boyfriend in her opinion, Rose took that moment to gather more of her things with John's help and eventually left the apartment under tense circumstances.

John and Rose made their way to where they had parked Bessie and as they were coming up on the car, the guilt hit the man full force and he had to tell Rose his worries.

"Rose I don't want to come between your Mum and you, her complaints about our age gap are reasonable." Said John clearly mournful of having caused such tension in the family by the state of his age alone. He had wanted to get along with Rose's mother, he had wanted to blend in with the family. He had planned to present himself as a respectable member of society hell-bent on worshipping the ground Rose walked on and the mind that controlled the feet that did the walking. He wanted to show that he had the purest of intentions and now because of a misunderstanding, her mother hated him. And he was older than her mother too. What was Rose doing with him anyway? John's self defaming thoughts were then interrupted by Rose.

"I don't care how old you are, John. It's just a number to me and you are more adventurous and active than most young men I know anyway. All they do is sit around and get fatter in front of the telly every night watching football. You talk to me and value my opinions on subjects that I only have just learned or barely understand, what bloke in your field would do that? Most wouldn't give my head the time of day and would just be trying to get me to their bed. I know you don't just see me as a pretty face and a notch on your belt, John. You are a great man. Mum's just upset and protective because when I was young and stupid I ran off with some older bloke and it all went wrong obviously. I'm not the same person as I was then, experience has made me wise and my trust isn't as easily gained anymore. I might have put emphasis on how close your house is for my Mum's sake when we were arguing about my new living arrangements. But after all I've been through, I wouldn't move in with a man if I didn't trust him completely and care for him deeply."

"Rose, I…" Said John was very touched and if he wasn't loaded down with two boxes of Rose's things he probably would have held her hand. Rose had honored him with her words and by trusting her with information about her past that she was obviously ashamed of. It was there, he had it! Her complete trust. John could only last for a bit longer he was sure, very soon and he knew it was too soon but he couldn't help himself. He was going to have to tell Rose that he loved her.

* * *

Rose had been drifting in and out of sleep for about a hour now, but thought she heard movement by what she seemed to remember was the med bay entrance in her sleepy haze. Rose listen with her eyes closed and heard what she recognized as the Doctor's steps. Knowing that she was in no danger she tried to get back to sleep. She had thought that he had come in to check her stats, which is why she was surprised when she felt her blankets being taken off of her. She then felt strong arms wrap around her and lift her from the bed. She felt the Doctor pull her close to his chest and he was not wearing his leather jacket. She could feel the contours of his chest through the woolen jumper and the sensation of protection and closeness was wonderful. She did not want it to end. Rose was afraid that if she said or did anything then, like a timid deer, the Doctor would run off and call off whatever it was that he was trying to do. Rose let out a breath as if she were sleeping and rested her head on his chest. She listen to his double heart beat and it was soothing enough that she might find herself falling asleep for real if she stayed there long. She was carried for a bit and heard the familiar sound of the console room before hearing the heavy door of the room she normally slept in open. Then as gently as if she were made of glass she was placed down on the bed and the covers were pulled up to her chin. Rose was considering just going back to sleep for real when she heard the Doctor's voice say,

"I know you are not really asleep, Rose." Caught, Rose let out a small gasp and turned in her bed to face the Doctor who sat in the same easy chair as he had the last time he was in this room with her. Rose had a guilty look on her face and asked,

"Not a convincing performance?" The Doctor smirked and replied,

"No very convincing, but your breathing was all wrong. Once I started walking with you I could tell you were faking it."

"Can't blame a girl for trying to enjoy herself…" Said Rose trailing off a bit before continuing,

"You said that later we were going to talk. Is now later? And what are we going to talk about?

"Rose… I want you around me, and I'm not ashamed of you. Who could ever be ashamed of you?" Said the Doctor and Rose let out a sigh of relief, she was about to talk but the Doctor stopped her. He needed to say these things. Losing Rose and then almost losing her life had made the Doctor realized that if he didn't get out his feelings he might not get another opportunity to do so at a later time. Any danger that Rose would ever be in would most likely be due to staying with him. That was the nature of TARDIS travel. But it had been not his situation or circumstances of living that had put her in danger this time. No it had been his treatment of Rose and the continued misunderstandings and miscommunications between them. Rose had been patient and she deserved to hear his real feelings. And here in the comfort of this room, alone was the best place to confess these emotions.

"I don't want to do anything as drastic as divorce you, Rose. I just need you to understand that I am a very private individual. I've seen things and done things that you can't understand and I'm glad that you can't. That's going to be an issue with me for the foreseeable future and I hope you can live with that. And I know that as John our relationship was obviously at a different level than it is now. Understand that to me this is like starting a new relationship with you all over again with some bits of another person's memories in there too. Memories that are mine but at the same time do not feel like they are mine. It's very confusing, Rose. It's sort of like dating again for me. I do care for you Rose, and if you still care for me as I am now. Can't we please for the time being just treat this as a new relationship? I know you don't want to be just friends and neither do I. And I know that technically we are married, but I don't feel like I'm ready for that part of the relationship yet as the Doctor. Can't we just be a couple first? A close couple? We can try to make this work and have a go at it. We could start again. I'd like that. You and me. We could try, at least. Because everything that John Smith is and was, I'm capable of that, too. It is just going to take time. I mean who knows we might even dance again one day." Declared the Doctor in a solemn voice. He had not discussed his apprehension about getting involved in a relationship with a member of a species that he would out live ridiculously easily, but the doctor had made his decision. After all when they were human Rose had decided to pursue a relationship with John even though she would obviously out live John by probably decades. Though to him living for decades without someone didn't feel quite as lonely a thing to deal with as doing so for centuries, but things are relative. He would try not to think about it, because it was one of the major factors keeping him back. He didn't want to lose his family all over again, but what else could he do? He would not abandon Rose and make her live in misery like he did. He would just try to forget about her human biology and what it implied for now and live in the moment. All that counted was here and now. And now was Rose.

Rose had finally gotten the talk she had wanted and she was stunned. Stunned that he cared enough for her to actually sit down and tell her what he was thinking about the two of them together. And as frustrating and disappointing as it understandably was to have to start all over again on a relationship that had been already so far along developed, she now understood where the Doctor stood. From his point of view, it was like getting to know a person from day one and he, like any dating couple, needed time to get to the point that Rose obviously had been already with him as John. Rose nodded her head in agreement to the Doctor's terms and laid her head down on the pillow of her bed. She could still stand to sleep for a few more hours especially after getting so much information to digest. Rose understood the boundaries now and deciding to test them she put her hand out for the Doctor.

"Would it be asking too much for you just to hold me? I know you don't sleep, but could you stay with me until I fall asleep at least, Doctor?" Asked Rose. The Doctor looked uncomfortable for a moment and Rose was afraid that she had already over stepped her boundaries. But to her amazement the Doctor got up out of his chair and quietly rounded the bed. Rose didn't take her eyes off the chair he had been sitting in for fear that she was getting her hopes up for nothing. He was probably just moving to get something and then would leave. This is why when she felt the hauntingly familiar weight on the other side of the bed, and the sound of shoes toeing off, so unbelievable. The Doctor did not join her under the covers but instead settled down on top of them and moved over to Rose. Rose wanted to cry she was so happy when she felt the Doctor's arms wrap around her and the long missed sensation of being spooned against the man she loved. He felt exactly the same and she let out a sigh of relief. She had said while crying in a shower days ago that all she wanted was for him to hold her and now he was doing that. Rose didn't know what the future had in store for them as a couple but for now she could say that, with the restored closeness she had missed like the air she breathed, she was for now content. Rose exhaled and snuggled into her pillow as she slipped into the most comfortable and safest feeling sleep she had had in such a long time.

**Author's Notes:** Oh god, please I haven't just ruined it for everyone! What do you think folks? I promised fluff, did I deliver believable fluff? Or did I just kill the story? I said that eventually we could be doing some off scripting. Well we are still going to be following what is left of the original episodes, but things are really going to start to change from now on too. Goes and hides in a corner and awaits responses.


	47. Chapter 47 - Boom Town

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter – 47 - Boom Town**

Rose woke up and stretched as she turned to the other side of the bed. The Doctor had been there when she had fallen asleep, the rumpled bed sheets were proof of that, but rarely was he there when she woke up. Often she would try to stay awake in bed at night just so she could feel him holding her for a little longer. Part of her was usually disappointed that he didn't stick around the whole night with her, but she knew that it was selfish to expect a member of a species that didn't sleep to just lie in a bed and stare at her sleeping for about eight hours a night. She knew that the Doctor was an active man and needed things to do. Rose could think of things that she would like to do to keep him occupied, but alas they still weren't at that point yet. Finally getting to do that again seemed to be all in the Doctor's court. It had been at least five month since the Doctor and Rose had become a 'close couple' and considering the treatment she used to get from the Doctor she could not complain. Though her libido might complain from time to time but frustration had to just be ignored.

Traveling with the Doctor was different now too. The Doctor would keep her company in bed every night until she fell asleep if she asked and inside or outside the TARDIS the Doctor was the recipient of her affections which the Doctor also allowed her to do as often as she wanted. If she wanted she could kiss him in public or private, the Doctor didn't protest but nor did he initiate. He did however, voluntarily engage in hand holding and hugs in public and private with very little hesitation. For selfish reasons she really wished that he might hint soon that he wanted to do more…but it would just take time and she reminded herself again to have patience. Rose could wait for him she had waited for John too.

Rose did her morning ritual and had gone to the kitchen to find a lovely breakfast prepared by Jack, it was his turn today. Rose had tried to eat Jack's French toast breakfast, but it just seemed too heavy for her today, and rather than using all of Jacks elaborate toppings she had just eaten it plain. Jack pretended to be offended and Rose explained that it was delicious but she just didn't feel like having a big breakfast. She had always preferred light breakfasts but Jack had American tastes and liked a big old meal to weigh you down like an anchor for the morning. After human needs of food were settled with, she had gone to join her boys in the console room. She had some news to tell the Doctor that she had noticed earlier this morning and hoped that she wasn't just seeing things.

"Morning, Doctor. Hey, I noticed when I woke up. I think that my nails are growin' again! See they're much longer now. Not just rejuvenating in the same place anymore." Declared Rose as she looked over her nails. They had were growing back so gradually she had not even noticed, but now that her short nails were long again she could do with a manicure.

"Might have to start dying the hair again, hmm? I think I see your roots a bit more easily now. That stuff must have finally all worked its way out of your system." Joked the Doctor. He was happy that Rose's body no longer had to deal with a foreign substance in it, but secretly he had liked the idea that Rose was for a short time like him, unchanging. It had actually helped him with becoming closer to Rose in the near half a year he had known her as the Doctor. He was not going to start pushing Rose aside at this information, he did not want to treat her like that again, he had learned his lesson. He had to take Rose as she was now and without trying to think about his lonely future without her soon to follow. Rose gave the Doctor a little smack on the arm at his comment about her hair but forgave him quickly.

"What are we doing today?" Rose smiled as she snuggled the Time Lord's right arm and then let go to allow him the use of the arm. He was clearly busy with something.

"Hello, Rose. We got to make a bit of a stop today for maintenance on the old girl. So we will be stopping in Cardiff." Explained the Doctor. Rose looked a bit like she thought that the Doctor was having her on, so the Doctor quickly explained the nature of their choice of destination. Rose was amazed by what she heard. She never thought that the TARDIS required so much work to run or that she needed to be recharged. Still it made sense. She needed to eat like anyone else, right?

Rose had had many adventures in the span of five months time and the blond realized that she had quite a lot of stories to tell now. She'd never live long enough to be as well traveled as the Doctor, but she was starting to consider herself a seasoned time traveler now. Rose then began to think about her friends and family she had left on Earth in her travels. She had been keeping track of them with her mobile but she did miss them. Traveling with the Doctor and Jack was great but she still missed her friends and family she had left behind from time to time, it was human nature. Though right now she was finding herself missing Mickey a lot more than her mother right now. Jackie was particularly angry with the Doctor over yet another misunderstanding they had had two weeks ago and she had a feeling that Jackie would be raw about it still. Rose decided that since she would be on Earth she might as well catch up with friends. She wanted to see Mickey again, they had been best friends before they were dating. But she also knew that the Doctor didn't seem to like Mickey too much, even though he had saved their lives. A fact that Rose had reminded the Doctor about a few times before. She just needed a good excuse to bring him down that the Doctor could not object to. Well, not object to too much anyway.

* * *

Mickey had just arrived at Cardiff Central railway station. Rose had called him with a request and to be honest he had been all too eager to comply. He wanted to kick himself in the rear sometimes. Rose was so obviously taken and he should have some dignity for himself and start dating other people, but he was still gone on Rose. He had also been emboldened by the fact that her husband had in a way essentially died and come back as an alien. Almost like it affected the Doctor's claim on her and that made her seem less out of reach. Why was he still gone on Rose, why couldn't he just let her go? He kept telling himself that he was going as a friend to do Rose a favor, but he knew that against hope he was wishing for another chance with her. Maybe he could still win her over. He wouldn't get ahead of himself, first he had to observe how things were going on with Rose and the Doctor. Then he would decide his next move. He wasn't trying to be a home wrecker, but if the home was already wrecked he didn't think it would count. Moving on in his journey he headed to the redeveloped Oval Basin, in Roald Dahl Plass. He found the Tardis parked in front of the huge water tower that looked like a slab with water pouring down it. Mickey looked about making sure no one was watching and felt kind of stupid for what he was about to do, knock on a tiny police box door like he was making a house call. Which he was but it still felt weird to him. He knocks on the door and very quickly Jack answers it.

"Mickey Mouse! I wasn't expecting a gentleman caller right now, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth, bedroom is this way." Smiled Jack in a slight southern accent as he partly blocked the door so Mickey would have to pass up against him to get inside the TARDIS. He did actually know that they were expecting company but like the Doctor, Jack like to mess with Rose's Ex.

"Get out of my way!" grumbled Mickey as he moved inside. He was not in a mood for Jack's teasing right now. Mickey walked up to the console to see Rose sitting on the jump seat and the Doctor above on the second level of the TARDIS with a flash light on his head. The Doctor turned his head away from his work to look down on Mickey and looked quite annoyed by his presence.

"Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?" Stated the Doctor with all the excitement one has looking forward to root canal.

"It's Mickey!" Hissed the man to the Doctor, who appeared to be doing repairs or something. With the red flashing light on his head he just seemed to look all the more ridiculous to Mickey and his already waning patience. Rose rolled her eyes at the obvious testosterone match that had started up and just said to Mickey,

"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Said Rose trying to calm down and comfort her Ex. Mickey looked Rose over. She was wearing her hair in braids, a warm looking jean jacket top, a short jean skirt with her ever so lovely legs in black tights, and shoes that looked like they were good for running.

"You look fantastic." Smiled Mickey as the two locked eyes and grinning, they gave each other a big hug. The Doctor looked on a bit miffed at the gesture but turned back to his work only to have his attention pulled back again, this time by Captain Jack.

"Aw, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack asked the Doctor sarcastically.

"'Cause I'm a Married ma…" The Doctor started to say without thinking, but then quickly recovered by jokingly saying,

"Buy me a drink first and we'll see what happens." Sadly Rose had been too engaged in talking to Mickey to notice the Doctor's slip up, but obviously Jack had heard and he wanted Rose to catch the rest. Jack made sure to raise his voice enough to get Rose's attention and it worked just fine.

"You're such hard work." Groaned Jack dramatically and Rose became quite interested in the word exchange between the two men.

"But worth it." Smirked the Doctor to which Rose piped up in a suggestive voice,

"I can attest." The Doctor's face turned red at Rose remark which only made him make all the more sure that the part of his sonic screwdriver that he always kept hidden from Rose's eyes was safely concealed in his palm. He had done a good job so far keeping Rose from seeing it, but he had had so many close calls that he was contemplating making a back up screw driver for Rose to use when he needed her to use it. He just wasn't ready for Rose to see him with it yet. He now supposed that he should say something in response to Rose's comment. However before anyone else could make a comment, or Jack ask just how old that intelligence that Rose just gave was, she turned her head back to Mickey as if she had said nothing at all and asked him in an excited voice,

"Did you manage to find it?"

"There you go. Got it off your Mum with very little trouble." Smiled Mickey as he handed over Rose's passport. Rose then waved her passport at the Doctor above her head and cheered,

"I can go anywhere now." The Doctor scoffed at what he viewed as an unnecessary thing while traveling with him and even more at the unnecessary thing of inviting Mickey for a visit to drop said passport off.

The Doctor for the most part was okay with Mickey, he had proven himself useful once before. He also knew that he was one of Rose's best friends and if she wanted to see a friend the Doctor wasn't going to deny her that if she asked. What did rub him the wrong way was his obvious lingering attachment to the woman who was technically his wife. 'Did human men get jealous over seeing their mate with their Ex?' The Doctor was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even realize what he had implied to himself. Turning his head again he saw Rose smiling at Mickey and jealously, although he would never admit it, he piped up to draw Rose's attention back to him,

"I told you, you don't need a passport." Rose was not swayed by the Doctor's remark and slapping her passport into her hand for effect she declared matter-of-factly,

"It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything." She then gave him her trademark tongue toothy smile fully displaying how clever and forward thinking she was.

"Sounds like you're staying, then." Said Mickey meekly to Rose, resulting in an awkward silence between them. Realizing that he was probably looking like a kicked puppy the man then boosted up his energy and asked in a cheerful voice,

"So what are you doing in Cardiff? I mean, aren't there a lot more interesting places for old big-ears up there to take you?" The Doctor let out a cry of protest at Mickey's remark to which the man told the Doctor to look in a mirror.

"Hey any place that I am at is interesting by default." Smirked the Captain with a wink meant to make Mickey uneasy.

"More like cheesy by default." Laughed Mickey, not at all impressed. Jack looked a bit confused at Mickey's statement then while combing his mind for any knowledge he had of the time Mickey was from and coming up lacking he asked,

"Early twenty first Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?" Mickey rolled his eyes at the man who was supposedly from the future and answered,

"It's bad." Answered Mickey annoyed.

"But bad means good, isn't that right?" Asked Jack thinking he was so clever for catching up on the lingo so quickly.

"Are you saying I'm not handsome?" Asked the Doctor of Mickey in an affronted voice as he descended the ladder down to the group's level and continued to say,

"Well obviously I'm handsome enough to have…" Rose saw that Mickey and the Doctor were starting to posture and not wanting to break up a fight she interrupted them by answering Mickey's original question,

"We just stopped off. We need to refuel. The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions." This seemed to work because the Doctor, never wanting to look out classed in knowledge, noted,

"The rift was healed back in 1869..." Rose growing ever more excited by getting a chance to tell a story about her travels to her friend, started talking a mile a minute and shot out,

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it!" Jack seeming to think that Mickey was looking lost and having trouble keeping up with Rose's story add his own information and declared,

"But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race…" Mickey had now looked over to Jack but then the Doctor stated in just as fast a fashion,

"But perfect for the Tardis, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and…" The Doctor let Jack take over again and said,

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation…"

"Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!" Grinned Rose and then Jack shouted,

"Into time!"

"And space!" Cheered the Doctor, Jack and Rose. The three then shared a synchronized high five as they said this and Mickey could tell that this gang had been together for quite some time. Mickey looked on at the grinning time travelers and thinking them all quite crazy questioned,

"My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?" The three all gave the affirmative without any hesitation and Jack playfully slapped Mickey who was looking to be a bit of a party pooper on the cheek. Mickey was starting to wonder just how this day with these three bonkers people was going to go. Jack and Rose then indicated that they needed to bundle up for the weather and after they had put on their warm attire lined up to exit the TARDIS with the rest of the party.

* * *

Outside of the TARDIS Rose, the Doctor Mickey, and Jack were now gathered having now filed out of the time ship. The Doctor was the only thing holding up the group as he always wanted to make sure her carefully locked the TARDIS up before leaving her.

"Should take another twenty four hours, which means we've got time to kill." Smiled the Doctor as he leaned up against the TARDIS doors. Rose could think of a few things to do with the Doctor to kill time but she would prefer to do that in considerably less company and Jack at least a mile away. Mickey was now feeling conscientious as he noticed an old lady giving their group a funny look at seeing a woman and three men pile out of the small blue police box. In a worried voice Mickey noted,

"That old lady's staring." Jack unconcerned just smirked and waggling his eyebrows joked,  
"Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box." Everyone seemed to laugh at Jack's remark except for Mickey.

"What are you captain of, the Innuendo Squad?" Growled Mickey to the amorous Captain that seemed to have made it his goal today to make him feel uneasy. With that said Jack made an odd gesture at Mickey, that probably meant something foul in Jack's time but the meaning was lost on Mickey, and walked away. Suddenly feeling concern for the incredible amazing and probably dangerous space ship that they were just going to leave behind Mickey questioned,

"Wait, the Tardis, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Jack too was interested by this line of questions from Mickey and walked back toward the Doctor and added a question to the list.

"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack asked. Rose happy that she was the one in the know, for once about the Trans dimensional space ship that was now her home, proudly explained,

"It's a cloaking device." Never missing out on a chance to brag about his ride the Doctor added to his wife's comment by explaining a bit of the science behind its appearance.

"It's called a chameleon circuit. The Tardis is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." Said the Doctor proudly patting his old ship. This seemed like a crazy concept to Mickey but he had to admit to himself that it was cool and in a slightly more jovial voice he asked that if it copied a real thing then did that mean that there were actually police boxes in this world. He never recalled ever seeing one until the Doctor's came into his life a bit suddenly.

"Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell." Stated the Doctor as he displayed his amazing knowledge of past times on Mickey's own planet that the man was ignorant of. Jack now understood that the TARDIS was stuck looking the way it did, but the Doctor was an all impressive time lord, what was stopping him from righting the problem?

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Asked Jack in earnest. The Doctor just smiled at Jack and declared that he liked the TARDIS as it was. Honestly he could not imagine the TARDIS looking like anything else or being anything but blue.

"Don't you?" he questioned the Captain. Rose gave off a beaming smiled and while patting her beloved home stated,

"I love it." Mickey thought that was a ridiculous reason to keep an outdated looking disguise on a space ship and posed the question,

"But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?" The Doctor was now done with questions he walked up to Mickey and in a serious voice said,

"Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?" But before Mickey could answered the Doctor did for him and slapping his hands on the man's shoulders stated,

"Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore." Mickey looked put off but the Doctor just walked away from him and Rose as excited as ever to stroll with her Time Lord, ran up to the Doctor and locked arms with him while jumping up and down excited like a kid in a candy store.

"What's the plan? Last time we were in Cardiff things didn't go real smooth, but it looks quiet now. As long as none of us wander off, do you think we will have any trouble this time?" She asked her husband as they headed toward a small jetty by the waterside. Rose never cared what the location was, even if it seemed dull looking, she knew that the Doctor could make things interesting. He always had some factoids or funny stories that could make even a closet interesting. And that's what she loved about the Doctor. He saw the universe so different from her. Little did she know that the Doctor was thinking the same about her. The Doctor smiled down at Rose. He loved her enthusiasm, it was infectious. Ever since he and Rose had come to their agreement things ran so much smoother between them. He didn't know why he didn't tell Rose how he felt in the first place. Well he knew why, he is a damaged war veteran who suddenly found himself knee deep in domestics that he felt that he had had no say in getting into in the first place. He really enjoyed Rose's company and over the past five months traveling he found himself growing closer. Not close enough yet that he would feel comfortable treating Rose like a spouse but whatever it was that they had now he didn't think he could do without. Why after all the terrible things he had done had fate thrown this human into his path? He would spend many nights lying next to Rose wondering that. It seemed so fair and unfair at the same time, that he should be given something so wonderful but at the same time his own inner demons and guilt kept him from fully appreciating it. He was the murder of his species and yet here he was living a fantastic life with Rose Tyler. He wasn't ready to admit it yet but a little bit of domestics with Rose wasn't that bad a thing. As long as things kept going this way he would be happy, he could distract himself from his guilt, his loneliness and the knowledge that his time with Rose one way or another was short and would be over before he knew it. But enough about that, he had to play tour guide to Rose and the other two guys. He was sure that he could find something above average to entertain Rose with even in Cardiff if he put his impressive Time Lord brain to work. He looked about the area in his most impressive Time Lord voice stated,

"I don't know. Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe. Today might just be a relaxing day of sightseeing." Jack followed behind soon after, but Mickey hanged back towards the end of the group feeling very out of place and wondering just how he was going to manage fitting in with Rose and her friends for the day. Well friend and husband, but to be honest Mickey still questioned if the man Rose was traveling with was really her husband and just how safe she actually was with him.

The group of time travelers, plus one, had walked down to the dockside. It was a brisk day, soon to be evening, and they had found a picturesque restaurant out on one of the jetties. They were going to go walk some more but Rose insisted that she was hungry enough to eat one of those aliens that resembled a horse on the planet they had last visited. Knowing that Rose could be cranky when she was hungry the group decided that to partake in the food that the restaurant on the jetty had to offer. The Doctor had flashed his psychic paper at the front door and they had been brought to a nice table with the perfect view overlooking the water. The table cloth and tableware was definitely better than you would find at a chippy but the dress code seemed laid back enough that no one in the party felt underdressed. Rose had made to sit down but the Doctor had gestured to her very subtly for her to let him help seat her. Rose was obliging and let the Doctor pull out her chair and then push her in closer to the table. The Doctor then sat himself down across from Rose, while Jack and Mickey sat across from each other. It was a perfect relaxed atmosphere and was shaping out to be just another nice day traveling through time and space where nothing bad happened. The Doctor enjoyed quiet days like this and quiet meals like this. But know Jack and what an influence he was on Rose, it probably would not be quiet for much longer. The only thing that the Doctor secretly thought would make the meal better was if Jack and Mickey would find some place to swan off to and leave him and Rose alone to enjoy each other's company. It had been so long since it was just the two of them alone in public together. Still if it had to be the way it was then he couldn't ask for better company, 'As long as Rickey here learns to lighten up.' Thought the Doctor as he, with a smile at Rose's direction, picked up his menu to order.

* * *

The server had now come and gone and they had been served their drinks but the group was now waiting for their food. In the meantime, Jack was engaged in telling yet another one of his fanciful tales, but the Doctor was having a hard time believing every word the Captain said. He knew that Jack like to embellish.

"I swear, six feet tall and with big tusks!" Jack declared as he threw his arms up in the air.

"You're lying through your teeth!" Jeered the Doctor, not believing the wild story that Jack was spinning. Rose was eating up every word but couldn't believe the situations that Jack had found himself in and lived through. Let alone believe half the stories about alien beasts he'd seen and she had seen plenty herself.

"I'd have gone bonkers! That's the word - bonkers!" Laughed Rose. Jack was telling the honest truth and he really wanted to convince the Doctor that he was not telling a tall tale like usual. Not that he needed to tell too many, his life was interesting enough.

"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy." Said Jack practically shouting. It was a wonder that none of the other dining guest seemed to care or even look their way. One or two of the things Jack had said had been weird enough to draw the ear, but humans were rarely aware of what was going on around them anyway it seemed. Or maybe the stories the crazy people across the way were telling was enough to make not wish to risk bringing attention to themselves.

"How could you not know it was there?" Laughed the Doctor now not believing that Jack and 14 other people could not have spotted such a large animal. Jack had gone on about how he and his 14 companions had been naked at the time and Rose simply laughed at Jack's supposed predicament. The Captain then proceeded to tell of his daring escape and the friend he had to end up helping. Mickey now had seemed to relax a bit and although the tale was unbelievable he was enjoying it and even adding his own two cents. The Doctor found himself laughing and even laughing with Mickey. Rose was happy that her husband and Ex seemed to be getting along finally. She was so thankful for Jack's company; he could relax and liven up any party if given a chance. She could see that now that Mickey was having a chance to spend time with her two traveling companions like normal people do that he was starting to relate to them like normal people. What a relief, it would make the visit all the more pleasant now if they could keep it up.

The Doctor smiled at Rose, he loved her smile and that toothy tongue grin she'd flash him every so often. No other woman in this place was close to as beaming as Rose was when he glanced around the room. But then his eye caught something from across the room at one of the other tables and it worried him greatly.

"I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say ever. That is so brilliant. Did you ever get your clothes back?" Asked Rose of the Captain as the Doctor got up and walked across the room. He then came up to a man reading the paper and snatched it from him. The man looked like he was about to protest but something about the man who had taken his newspaper didn't make him want to ask for it back. This mostly went unnoticed as Jack was coming to the end of his story. Reeling Jack declared in answer to Rose's question,

"No, I just picked him up went right for the ship, full throttle. Didn't stop until I hit the spacelanes. I was shaking. It was unbelievable. It freaked me out, and by the time I got fifteen light years away I realized I'm like this." Rose calming down from her laugh saw that the Doctor was still missing from his chair and turned her head to find him. They locked eyes and Rose knew that something was wrong. With sad, worried and disappointed eyes the Doctor held up the newspaper and said,

"And I was having such a nice day." Looking at the front page, Rose's blood went cold. It was a picture of the blond fat woman, Margaret, also known to be a member of the Slitheen family. Rose now knew that the vacation was over and something had to be done.

* * *

The Doctor was not happy, this was supposed to be a relaxing day with Rose and some friends and now they had to take care of business. But not only that they were facing off with an alien that had threatened Rose's life. And the Doctor did not show much kindness to those who would dare harm, try to harm, or even threaten to harm Rose. With the purpose of rival gangsters the team moved in on City Hall to settle a score with the Slitheen, who seemed to have escaped ten Downing unharmed, because if they were still alive and on Earth then no good would come of it. They walked up the stairs of City hall and into the foyer. When they had reached the top of the stairs Jack was already in ops mode and in a voice that was all business said,

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty seven fifty six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face. That'll designate Exit One, I'll cover Exit Two. Rose, you Exit Three. Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?" Everyone seemed a little intimidated by the now military sounding operation that they had seemingly committed themselves to do, all except for the Doctor who looked at Jack incredulously.

"Excuse me. Who's in charge?" Said the Doctor affronted that one of his companions wanted him to take orders from them. He was the impressive Time Lord with the amazing space ship. He gave the orders around here. Doing what his companions said well that was something that he just didn't do…Okay, if he were honest…Rose could pretty much order him around if she wanted to but fortunately she didn't feel the need to do that too often. Well he certainly wasn't going to admit that if Rose said jump, he'd ask how high. Jack now had seen that he had over stepped his authority and began shifting his weight at attention and apologetically declared,

"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir."

"Right, here's the plan." Said the Doctor. Rose looked to the Doctor curious as to what he thought was a better plan, but only smirked when the Doctor had to admit,

"Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?" Jack then suggested that they all set their mobile phones to speed dial so that they could convey any new information as they engaged the target. Ever since the nightmare trip to New Orleans the Doctor, as well as Jack, had all gotten mobile phones. This had come in handy on several occasions already and the Doctor had seen that getting the super phone 'family plan' had been very much worth it. The Doctor looked over to Rose and silently instructed her to be careful. Rose gave him a lopsided grin and wordlessly told him to do the same. Mobiles in hand they all set their phones to speed dial.

"See you in hell." Smirked Jack mostly in Mickey's direction the four then went to their respective positions. Poor Mickey was new to this part of the 'job' and found himself the only one walking sheepishly and unsure off to find an exit to secure. Worried was an understatement with him, he had faced off with one of these creatures before and was not looking forward to doing so again. What if he ran into it all by himself?

* * *

Outside the Mayor's office the Doctor merrily approached the young looking man that was sitting behind a desk. He was probably a secretary of some sort. He was at least lucky enough to have survived on his own this long with a dangerous alien hostile in hiding nearby on a daily basis. It was the Doctor's job to more or less flush out, and put off guard, the Slitheen inside the Mayor's office and he was going to do just that and have fun doing it. Oh hell he was going to scare the living daylights out of her, a fitting punishment for disturbing his day with Rose in itself. Never mind the fact that she and her wretched family had tried to thrown the Earth into a nuclear powered WWIII. Anyway better get down to business. Smiling at the man the Doctor announced,

"Hello, I've come to see the Lord Mayor." The young man smiled at the Doctor's friendly behavior but then following protocol he asked,

"Have you got an appointment?" The Doctor shifted merrily on his feet and grinned in the most pleasant way before explaining,

"No, just an old friend passing by. Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face." The man looked a bit apprehensive to just let a stranger into the Mayor's office, even if he was claiming to be an old friend. Just to be safe, he decided it would be best to screen the guest a bit first. Or better yet if he could convince the leather clad man to come back at another time it would be better because then he wouldn't have to bother the Mayor at all and she hated being bothered during tea time.

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea." The Doctor was not deterred and stated,

"Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her." The young man realized that the man was obviously not going away and if he had to interrupt the Mayor with the announcement of a guest then he would at least like a full name.

"Doctor who?" Asked the young man, to which the Doctor smiled,

"Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor." The Doctor then rocked back and forth on his feet impatient to see the Slitheen's reaction that the one who doomed her family's evil plan was outside. The Young man asked the Doctor to wait a moment and then very carefully opened one of the large wooden doors to office and entered. He also made sure that the door was closed behind him as a precaution. A few moments of silence passed and the Doctor waited quietly, smirking when he heard a tea cup dropping to the floor and smashing. A few moments more and a very nervous secretary came out of the mayor's office and very sheepishly announced,

"The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat, but, er, she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?" Without even changing the expression on his face the Doctor then plainly asked the man,

"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" To which the man answered the affirmative and the Doctor was off like a shot into the mayor's office to chase down the escaping alien. When he arrived on the balcony of the office he spotted Margaret making an undignified retreat down some scaffolding. Wanting now to close his trap the Doctor pulled out his mobile which he could use like a walkie talkie and shouted into it,

"Slitheen heading north." The Doctor then heard two if his companions confirmations that they had heard the message followed by perhaps one more it was so quiet and he suddenly had trouble to deal with. In an attempt to stop the strange man from reaching his Mayor the young man grabbed onto the Doctor in hopes of restraining him. Not having time for this the Doctor wrestled back as the man shouted for the Doctor to leave the Mayor alone. This gave Margaret a considerable head start on the Doctor and she ran as fast as her fat heeled legs could carry her to the nearest exit off the premises as she took off her brooch. She thought that she was home free but little did she suspect that the Doctor's companions were closing in on her.

Margaret could see the exit gate now and beamed from her lucky escape but then she saw that yellow haired girl that had been with the Doctor the last time they met coming towards her quite determined to stop her. Snarling she realized that her path was blocked and she removed her right earring from her ear. She turned around running for the second exit only to see another human male come running at her with purpose on his face. They had her on three sides but there was still a fourth way out and she dashed for it.

The Doctor now finished with Margaret's secretary broke free and spotted the Slitheen running below where he was standing on the balcony. He knew that she had only one more way out and they had that covered too. The Doctor chased after the fat woman and made his way down the same ladders that the 'Mayor' had used earlier.

"Margaret!" Shouted the Doctor at the escaping woman in a teasing voice as if he were playing a game of tag. As The Doctor managed to get down the ladder Margaret was now removing her other earring and puts it with the first and her brooch. She was using them to make something very important because she knew that the chase was now truly on. She peeled for the last unguarded exit. If she didn't make her next move fast then she would be at the Doctor and his companions' mercy.

"Who's on Exit Four?" Cried out Jack to which Rose indicated that was Mickey's job.

"Here I am." Huffed Mickey as he barreled through the exit door to City Hall.

"Mickey the idiot." Groaned the Doctor as he looked at the young man in front of him trailing a roll of toilet paper behind him.

"Oh, be fair. She's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?" Declared Rose in her Ex's defense. She didn't like how her husband was deliberately harsh to her Ex. For a supposed superior being, he sure could act as jealous as a teen-aged boy. Why did he feel threatened anyway? She was his wife and was wearing his ring that he had given her at their wedding! Well technically his ring and their wedding. It was a complicated situation even months later… regardless she was clearly his, so why be so mean to Mickey? And besides, the Doctor had let Margaret get past him as well. It was then that Margaret who had been shuffling down the road in her heels vanished in a blue light.

"She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never going to get her." Complained Jack as if it had been just a game of man hunt. The Doctor was not worried about this situation and carefully reached into his pocket for his sonic device.

"Oh, the Doctor's very good at teleports." Smirked Rose watching the Doctor pull out his Sonic device with anticipation for the show to follow. She recalled another two occasions he had been good with teleports, once to bring back Cassandra and the other three weeks ago to teleport the two of them out of an airlock. And in that case he had landed on top of her in a small space broom closet, which all though he had turned beet red from the position he found himself in, she had not minded in the least. The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver and like magic Margaret reappeared, running towards them. Realizing that she had not yet escaped Margaret reactivated her teleport only to vanish again. Still with a superior grin on his face the Doctor once again activated his Sonic and the blond woman reappeared closer. This continued on in much the same fashion until the Doctor said to the now exhausted woman,

"I could do this all day. And Rose is fond of watching me thwart teleports." Infuriated and outraged by the indignity of it Margaret hissed and shouted at her capturers,

"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried to kill me, kill Rose and destroy this entire planet. But especially tried to kill Rose." Answered the Doctor matter-of-factly. Mickey was going to make a comment about the Doctor forgetting to mention the attempted murder the Slitheen had tried on him or Jackie, but reasoned that the Doctor would just turn it around and make him look stupid for trying to add to the conversation that the Time Lord was monopolizing.

"Apart from that." Stated the woman now reminded of her history with the Doctor. Considering that information, the Doctor was being quite civil with the alien criminal. Perhaps earlier on in his regeneration he might have felt justified in killing the alien where she stood with vinegar, but he was on his way to becoming a different man now. Over the past five months Rose had been, without him even realizing it, changing him for the better through her tender affections. The Doctor was also finding himself wanting to be a better man for Rose and his usual fiery temper was not as frequently showing up. Rose was helping him find 'his humanity' as it were or at least his patience.

"Well we got her, so what do you do with her now?" Asked Rose of the Doctor, but Mickey piped up,

"Take her to the Police!" Declared Mickey like it was obvious. The three time travelers just looked at Mickey funny and Mickey shifted uncomfortably.

"I hate to tell you this, Mickey but we are the Police at this point. So what do we do with the prisoner now, Doc." Said Jack. The Doctor gestured for the Slitheen to start moving back to City Hall and declared,

"Well, we're going to go back inside and have a nice little chat with the Lord Mayor. Something tells me that we are going to have a few comments about her job performance."

**Author's Note:** Hope you like it so far. Warning. The next chapter I see you people either liking it or deciding not to read anymore afterwards…but I live in hope. It's going to be as off scripting as you can get with some parts.


	48. Chapter 48 - Dates from Hell

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 48 – Dates from hell**

Now having captured their prey, the time travelers led the subdued Slitheen female back to her chambers in City hall. The Doctor needed to know a few things about what the Slitheen was up to. Whatever it was it was probably was no good. He did however find it easy to deduce how she got where she is now. He began to interrogate the fat woman as they marched into a large ornate room with a large old polished wooden table with a sizeable model of the city and its soon to be activated power plant.

"So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family get killed but you teleport out just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?" Questioned the Doctor in an assertive voice.

"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways." Said Margaret in a noble sounding voice. 'Pull the other one.' Thought the Doctor who then replied,

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift." The Slitheen proceeded to play dumb and asked as to what rift he was referring to? To which Jack just as unsold by her bull crap thundered in an energetic voice,

"A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go…!" And then he proceeded to make a sucking noise while miming the planet being sucked into itself. The Doctor looked at the primitive energy creating plant and with a knowing voice in disturbed awe of the destruction it had been designed to unleash stated,

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity." Rose was amazed that her own species, well the 21st century version of it could make such an oversight. It certainly didn't give her much faith in humanity's stewardship of the planet and in a frustrated and stunned voice implored,

"Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?" Margaret just rolled her eyes at the young blond's comment and in a voice that dripped of sarcasm and frustration, attributed most likely from the experience of a lack of notice when and where needed from London in the past, declared,

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice." The woman then stopped in her rant and realized what her language was sounding like.

"Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native." Said Margaret in a shocked but then dismissive tone. Mickey was at an even greater loss then Rose. He knew considerably less about the ways of aliens and had no means to be able to follow and keep up with the conversation in the room or where it was going. 'Don't these people ever just talk normal?' He asked himself in irritation at the stupid aliens and their stupid ways and how they were influencing Rose. Hell after the Doctor having her with him for so long, he barely recognized her anymore from the woman he used to date.

"But why would she do that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself." Announced Mickey in confusion of the obvious suicidal plan of the alien. It made no sense to him what blowing up the planet would do for her, especially since she seemed so hell bent on surviving Earth. Margaret was getting annoyed at being referred to as just she or it by the human and reminded Mickey that she had a name.

"She's not even a she, she's a thing." Scoffed Mickey. Margaret couldn't believe that she had to stand there and be insulted and accused of not being female by a knuckle dragging ape. 'Stupid humans, it's bad enough that I have to work with them on a daily basis. If I have to be captured by the Doctor can't he pick a different species to keep as pets? I'm drowning in the idiocy.' Growled Margaret to herself. The Doctor had been staring at the oddly shaped power plant on the table and was wondering why it seemed too familiar to him. He's seen that outline before, and then that was when it hit him like a sack of bricks. In grim satisfaction the Doctor shouted,

"Oh, but she's clever." He then ripped the nuclear power plant model from its display and flipped it upside-down revealing an amazing collection of electronics beneath.

"Fantastic." Declared the Doctor and Jack with the excitement of a little boy getting a new toy asked the Doctor for confirmation,

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" The Doctor looked surprised but pleased at the man's knowledge and declared that he could not have put it better himself. Jack took the device from the Doctor's hands. The Doctor then became distracted by something ahead of him and walked off to investigate.

"Oo, genius! You didn't build this?" Asked Jack. Margaret seemed flattered but guarded at his comment. As if she were talking to a fellow model car builder she answered,

"I have my hobbies. A little tinkering." Jack realized that she misunderstood his statement and clarified,

"No, no, no. I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you." Mickey at hearing this, and even more disgusted by the 'bog' monster, accused her of having stolen it. To which Margaret defended that it simply fell into her hands. Rose really wanted to know what the device was for now.

"Is it a weapon?" She asked Jack as she leaned over the table to look at it. Jack was all the more happy to explain with a demonstration.

"It's transport. You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a force field. You have this energy bubble, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system." Explained Jack as he stepped onto the device. Mickey thought that what this device sounded like to him was just too obvious but what else could it be. Quite unable to believe he was making the comparison, Mickey declared,

"It's a surfboard." This was a proper analogy for a 21st century human to the Jack but he had to make sure Mickey understood the scale. Piping up he announced,

"A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah." That was it, Margaret had been found out. In irritation of how close she had been to freedom and yet so far she scoffed,

"And it would've worked. I'd have surfed away from this dead end dump and back to civilization." She couldn't help but think that the beginning of her sentence reminded her of the ends of those television stories she sometimes watched about cartoon teenagers in a green van with a dog that talked. 'And I would have got away with it too, if it wasn't for you pesky humans and your Time Lord.' She humored to herself, what else was left to do. She was distracted from her pity party by Mickey, who with disgust questioned,

"You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?" The Slitheen did not care.

"Like stepping on an anthill." She shot back. She and Mickey looked like they were about to come to blows when the Doctor brought the focus of the room back to him and the discovery he had made.

"How'd you think of the name?" he asked Margaret as he looked at the banner over head at the end of the room advertizing the nuclear power project. The woman couldn't believe that the Doctor was wasting her time on such things and hissed,

"What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh." The Doctor continued to stare at the banner and with a puzzled look on his face replied,

"I know, but how did you think of it?" The Doctor had seen and heard these words before on their trip through time and space. The same words if even in a different language. Just every so often here and there, and always when there was trouble too. Hell it had been the name of the project that ended the first abusers of the drug that had affected Rose and even the ship that had tried to spirit her away months ago. And a few times afterwards too. He shivered it was unsettling for some reason. Margaret on the other hand did not get the significance or the context and answered,

"I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It just sounded good. Does it matter?" The Doctor turned to Rose and with concerned eyes addressed her.

"Blaidd Drwg." Said the Doctor plainly. Rose did not herself speak Walsh and with a confused look and voice that picked up on her husband's concern asked what the words meant.

"Bad Wolf." Said the Doctor again plainly. Rose was now very concerned, it was too many times that those words kept coming up,

"But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times." Stated Rose sounding a bit upset. The Doctor then began to muse on the situation that the two seemed to be sharing. Never breaking eye contact the Doctor said,

"Everywhere we go. Two words following us. Bad Wolf." Rose was now even more freaked out that this seemed to be such a concern for the Doctor and asked how it was that two words could be following them. The Doctor continued to stare at Rose with concerned eyes but then shrugged it off and breaking eye contact he grinned,

"Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind. Things to do. Margaret, we're going to take you home." Rose let out a sigh of relief, if the Doctor thought it was of no concern than that was good enough for her. Bad Wolf wasn't exactly ever a good thing in children's literature growing up so the words naturally had a dark and dangerous feel to them. Jack however could not believe that the Doctor was going to be so accommodating to a dangerous alien criminal by giving her a lift back home, especially when she was willing to blow up a planet to get there in the first place.

"Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?" Questioned Jack in disbelief. Rose on the other hand was becoming excited at the prospect of getting to visit another alien world, especially on that was so hard to pronounce.

"I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa." Cheered Rose but she messed up the name and the Doctor just rolled his eyes at her. Rose not wanting him to give up on her finally getting the name right just yet, put up her hand at the Doctor and declared,

"Wait a minute! Raxacor…" She stopped. She couldn't remember the rest and the Doctor now seeing that she needed a hand, like it or not, corrected,

"Raxacoricofallapatorius." Rose slowly approached the Doctor as the name of the long named planet struggled across her human tongue,

"Raxacorico…" She said and the Doctor finished still in a tasked voice,

"fallapatorius." Rose now within feet of him slowly said,

"Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"That's it!" cheered the Doctor and the two shared a celebratory hug. Rose then spun around and gave the Doctor a quick kiss on the lips.

"I did it!" Rose sang. The mood however was instantly killed when Margaret grimly stated,

"They have the death penalty." Everyone was quiet as if the air had been sucked from the room. The Slitheen then went on to explain,

"The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed." The Doctor just stared at the woman and did not speak a word.

"What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death." The woman challenged. The Doctor saw what the alien was trying to do, trying to take the moral high ground when she had no place taking it at all and said,

"Not my problem." And with that not many words were said as the group made their way back to the TARDIS with their alien prisoner. Rose had found the Doctor particularly unresponsive to her as they had left the Town Hall, not surprising since they all had to make sure that Margaret did not escape. Still she knew when the Doctor was in a contemplative or brooding mood and now was that time. She had tried to rest her hand on his arm but he seemed too distracted by the task at hand to notice her offering him comfort. She hated it when he got like this because it was him going back into his closed world of pain and in that world he did not seem to notice or acknowledge that he was not alone anymore and that he had someone else to share his burden with. In many ways the Doctor told her so much but at the same time told her so little. Not that she was ungrateful or not fully appreciative of the closeness he had allowed her but she missed the openness that they had had before when they were both human from time to time. She wanted further inside of the secret world he went to and perhaps one day if she were patient then he would.

* * *

When they had finally entered the TARDIS night had fallen of Cardiff and Margaret was utterly amazed by the marvels within the ship. She would have liked to have walked outside of the TARDIS and then in again just to make sure that the inside was truly bigger than the outside of the ship, but that might have looked like an escape and she knew the Doctor would not like that.

"This ship is impossible. It's superb. How do you get the outside around the inside?" She asked the Doctor truly humbled by the technology of the Time Lord.

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah." Spat the Doctor as he tinkered with something on the console. Jack was under the grating doing his end of the maintenance on the TARDIS while Rose helped by passing tools when needed to Jack. Mickey on the other hand did not know what to do with himself at all and just looked on. This was something that he was feeling very inadequate about. He was a mechanic by trade and not knowing at least a little of what to do to help with an engine of any kind was a knock at his already injured pride. Margaret strolled about the console room touching this and that from time to time and declared,

"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods." The Doctor rolled his eyes slightly and stated,

"Don't worship me… I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how we doing, big fella?" The Doctor looked down under the console at Jack, who then answered,

"This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?" He then looked over to Margaret, who innocently replied,

"Oh, I don't know. Some airlock sale?" Jack soooooooo 'believed' that and said curtly as he continued to attach the device to the ship,

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power." The Doctor not as familiar with the extrapolator asked the Captain,

"But we can use it for fuel?"

"It's not compatible, but it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning." Explained Jack. The Doctor then let out a sigh and said,

"Then we're stuck here overnight." To which Margaret admitted that she herself was in no hurry to go.

"We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box." Joked Rose excited that the disguise that the TARDIS used was for once not a disguise at all and doing what it appeared to look designed for on the outside. Rose's excitement did not last as Margaret once more reminded her of the situation at hand.

"You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you." Stated Margaret with a voice that was meant to make her seem the morally superior of this group of people. Mickey was not convinced and spat,

"Well, you deserve it." The alien then gave the man an accusatory look and growled,

"You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly? Long night ahead." The Doctor then watch the slimy manipulative monster walk over to the jump seat and sit down. He felt sorry for the poor seat. He couldn't help but notice just how far down it sunk to the ground under her weight. In a knowing and cruelly teasing voice she then asked of the group,

"Let's see who can look me in the eye." But no one in the TARDIS could. Mickey was actually so unnerved by the situation that he felt the need to remove himself from it. After a few minutes of milling about, so not to look like he was running away, he said he needed some air and walked out of the TARDIS. Concerned Rose followed shortly after saying that she wanted to make sure that he was alright. The Doctor had noticed that Rose, like Mickey, seemed too uncomfortable in the situation that they had found themselves in. Not surprising since he knew that UK humans had come to outlaw the death penalty after centuries of using the bloody practice often with very little evidence to condemn someone. Needless to say the idea of the death penalty was not one that sat well with them in this century. He assumed that the requirement of air probably would be needed not just for Mickey but Rose as well. The Doctor nodded to Rose giving her the okay to leave as two people was enough to stand guard. She smiled her appreciation at the Doctor and then left the TARDIS leaving just the Doctor and Jack to watch after their prisoner.

* * *

When Rose stepped out of the TARDIS she saw that Mickey was nearby watching the large waterfall like monument that the TARDIS had parked next to at the start of the day. He was watching it and looked to be having very deep thoughts. Raising her voice she managed to pull him out of his own world by declaring,

"It's freezing out here!" Even more so since she wasn't wearing jeans but a jean skirt, she wrapped her scarf around her hands and blew her hot breath onto them.

"Better than in there. She does deserve it. She's a Slitheen. I don't care. It's just weird in that box. I honestly don't know how you can stand it." Stated Mickey as he looked at Rose. Rose was a little a fronted by Mickey's statement about the TARDIS but she understood.

"That box is my home, Mickey. It's not so bad once you get used to it…Anyway, I'll be honest with you, Mickey. I didn't really need my passport, I just missed seeing you and I needed an excuse to bring you down." Said Rose to her friend. Mickey smiled at the information that Rose had told him. He was glad that Rose still wanted him in her life. He was afraid to tell her that he still wasn't ready to have a life without her in it. He wasn't looking to manipulate Rose or break up her life as it was, but he still just found it hard to believe that that man in that box was the same bloke she had married. From what he had observed it was like she was a widow chasing after the ghost of her dead husband. But she still seemed happy enough and as long as she was happy then he would support that happiness but at the same time he was not against showing Rose a little bit of the life the two of them could have together like normal humans again.

"I've been thinking, you know, we could go have a drink. Have a pizza or something. Just you and me. I remember our last time trying to get food got interrupted by space aliens, I hope we can have better luck tonight." Stated Mickey with a bit of shy apprehension in his voice, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. Which is why to his relief Rose smiled at him and said,

"That'd be nice. I'm still hungry. We never got to eat earlier."

"And, I mean, I've got some money. We could hit a few bars just like old times." Beamed Mickey.

"Not too much like old times but okay, yeah. But pizza first, I'm feeling a little weak from hunger actually. Not usually tired this early but I'll perk up once I have pepperoni in me." Declared Rose as she placed her hand on her empty stomach.

"Cool. There's a couple of bars around here afterwards. We should give them a go. Do you have to go and tell him?" Asked Mickey pointing at the TARDIS. Rose looked back at the TARDIS and smiled,

"No, it's fine. He wouldn't want me to go hungry and it's not like we're going far. And neither one of us is chained to the other. I know he tells me not to wander off but I'm not alone this time. I think I'll be safe with an old friend. And I'm sure an old friend that has once already saved me and my husband is sufficient protection." Mickey grinned at her and the two started walking for the nearest pizzeria. Rose now feeling weaker from hunger looped her arm around Mickey's arm for support as they went along. Little did the two realize that they were being watched by the Doctor silently from inside the TARDIS via his security feed. The Doctor was feeling envy for the company that Mickey was going to be enjoying over dinner. He had not caught everything that Rose and Mickey had said but he knew that they were off to hunt for food. He didn't want to starve Rose, humans needed to eat more often than Time Lords did. He really wanted to be the one that got to take Rose out to dinner alone tonight, it been a while since the two of them hand had a private dinner together.

* * *

"So, what's on?" Asked Jack in a knowing voice as he looked over the Doctor's shoulder. He had seen the longing look on the Doctor's face and whenever he saw Rose or the Doctor masking their feelings for each other in any way he just had to point it out in some way.

"Nothing, just..." The Doctor trailed off knowing that he had been caught watching Rose on the scanner. The Doctor didn't want to admit that he felt any bit threatened by Mickey. He was just a human after all, he could offer Rose much more than a human ever could…but there was still some things that Mickey could offer Rose that he never could…or had since he changed back to his current form. The Doctor had to admit that that bothered him more than he liked lately. He tried to shake those thoughts from his head. Rose was just spending time with a friend nothing more. He couldn't expect her to just sit around with him all night guarding a dangerous criminal. Rose deserved to have some fun every now and again with friends.

"I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last you have consequences. How does it feel?" Growled the captive alien who was already planning means of escape, but she was not against tormenting her captors, if she could, in the meantime. Even better if she could use that as part of her plan of escape.

"I didn't butcher them." Barked back the Doctor but Jack scolded the Doctor and declared,

"Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack knew a thing or two about mind games and what a person held prisoner was capable of in order to escape. He should know he'd been held against his will for reasons other than pleasurable ones before in the past. The Doctor told Jack that he didn't and then not buying the Slitheen's last survivor story and asked Margaret,

"What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?" Margaret quickly and angrily barked back,

"It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs." Jack and the Doctor laughed at this revealed truth and the Slitheen seeming a bit hurt by the laughing said in a clipped voice,

"It wasn't funny." The Doctor continued to laugh and apologized, and Margaret turned to look at the Doctor to see him and Jack laughing some more.

"It is a bit funny." Smirked the Doctor and Margaret actually laughed a bit herself. She then composed herself very quickly and asked,

"Do I get a last request?" To which the Doctor told her that it depended on what the request was.

"I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just round the Bay. It became quite a favorite of mine." Explained Margaret to which the Doctor asked a bit astonished as he walked over to her,

"Is that what you want, a last meal?" He was skeptical to say the least and not in a mood to play games.

"Don't I have rights?" she asked in an indignant voice at the thought of being denied such a request.

"Oh, like she's not going to try to escape." Scoffed Jack at the request their prisoner had made. In an angry and hissing voice the Slitheen then declared,

"Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger? I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?" The Doctor said that his stomach was strong enough.

"I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them." Smirked the alien with an oily look.

"You won't change my mind." Stated the Doctor to which Margaret challenged him to prove it. The Doctor still looked unconvinced.

"There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger." Said the Doctor stating the obvious. Jack with a huge grin on his face then pulled two shiny bangles from his pocket.

"Except I've got these." Smiled Jack who then continued,

"You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away…" Jack made a noise that resembled an electric shock and Margaret's cool appearance vanished as she shook from the sound. Apparently she had not forgotten the last time she had gotten shocked while in 10th Downing. Jack then finished,

"She gets zapped by ten thousand volts." The Doctor wondered just why Jack would have such a thing on him, but then looked at Margaret and with a smile and in a sarcastic voice asked,

"Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat." The Slitheen raised her eye brow and then replied with a smug smile,

"Dinner in bondage. Works for me." The Doctor had to fight back a bit of a shiver of disgust at the idea. In his past memories as John he remembered that he had been in such a situation before, but nothing of a deviant nature and only with his wife, Rose. He was starting to long for the time last evening when he had had Rose safely wrapped in his arms in their shared room and hoped that he could repeat that very soon once they dropped off their prisoner. He tried to focus on that and not what Margaret had said. Just the thought of bondage anything with this creature was enough to unsettle a stomach. And he needed that stomach to eat dinner with this creature. What he would give right now for it to be Rose he was taking out to eat instead of this foul creature. Ah well, he decided that the best way to spend this evening if he had to spend it with Margaret was to be as annoying as possible by being as pleasant as possible. After all she was trying to turn his stomach and he was not going to let her. After putting on the cuffs the two left to leave Jack to finishing mending the TARDIS. The Doctor thought of Rose one last time and hoped that she was having a better time, but with Mickey keeping a respectable distance away from her.

* * *

The Doctor and Margaret walked into the Bistro 10 restaurant as safely the oddest looking couple in the whole eating establishment. The host recognized the Mayor and quickly sat the two of them down. He did not find the Mayor a woman particularly easy on the eyes and knew that she often came to eat here alone. So it only seemed to make sense to him that when she did finally bring a date then it would be an ugly man with a big nose and even bigger ears. He didn't know whether to feel happy or sorry for the poor ugly guy if that was the best he could do, then he might as well throw in the towel now. But then again maybe he was a relative catching up with her or taking her out, out of pity that she probably didn't get company outside of work when she ate. And boy could she eat, he had seen her eat before and was amazed that she didn't fall through the floor. Knowing her preferred wine by heart the host flagged a waiter down who quickly left two glasses of red wine at their table. The host then handed the menus to the odd couple and left them in privacy.

"Here we are, out on a date, and you haven't even asked my proper name." Margaret pointed out to the Doctor who was sitting across the small table from her. The two had now been reviewing their menus and reading about all the lovely foods to eat for a while now, but the Slitheen's words raised his eye and turned his stomach slightly.

"It's not a date. I'm already spoken for." The Doctor said in a somewhat juvenile voice quite easily, with such an unattractive dining companion for the evening. Besides she was going to be dead in a couple of hours so what did it matter what he said to her. Watching the Slitheen try to act proper and well mannered at the table had quite the opposite effect on the Time Lord. All he saw was the skin of a human stuffed with a monster and manipulated like a puppet in a manner that resembled a human but was at least to him obviously not. He would have rather a different blond be sitting across from him right now, but he reasoned that she probably thought that he was going to be in the TARDIS playing warden all night and had gone off to spend time with her friend…rather her Ex. He didn't know why it bothered him. Rose was free to spend time with whoever she wanted. Besides, Rose had proven time and time again, in not just her actions but her words, that she was devoted to him in every way. Even when he was an outright git, but still it was Rickey who was getting to spend time with Rose tonight. Why was he thinking about this now when he had a dangerous prisoner to keep an eye on? He let out an irritated sigh and remembering the Slitheen's question asked her,

"What's your name?"

"Blon. I am Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. That's what it'll say on my death certificate." Declared Blon.

"Nice to meet you, Blon." Said the Doctor with strained pleasantries wanting to order his food already. He did not feel like playing mind games right now.

"I'm sure. Look, that's where I was living as Margaret. Nice little flat, over there, on the top. Next to the one with the light on." Said Blon pointing to a pent house apartment off in the distance behind where the Doctor was sitting. The Doctor turned his head to look while Blon opened a large gaudy ring on her finger, which revealed a hidden compartment filled with a strange powder. Sure that the Time Lord was not looking she poured the powder into his wine glass. As the powder dissolved Blon continued to talk giving the long distance 'tour' of her old apartment.

"Two bedrooms, bayside view. I was rather content. Don't suppose I'll see it again." The Doctor turned to face Blon and knew what she had done the second she had done it. There were many things that could go by unnoticed but not poison in the air by a Time Lord once killed by poison. Without even a looking at Blon the Doctor switched the wine glassed, placing the poisoned one in front of Blon to drink.

"Suppose not." Smiled the Doctor, to which Blon thanked the Doctor sarcastically.

"Pleasure." Smiled back the Doctor, this was going to be a tense evening for sure. The Doctor then went back to his menu knowing that Blon would soon speak again to test his patience.

"Tell me then, Doctor. What do you know of our species?" Asked Blon to which the Doctor only glancing up slightly over his menu replied,

"Only what I've seen." Raising her hand up she then asked,

"Did you know, for example, in extreme cases, when her life is in danger, a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger?" Upon these words she then pointed her finger to the Doctor shooting off a dart at his head only to have her efforts thwarted when he caught it effortlessly between his own fingers. He then said as if no one had just tried to kill him that he did know that. Blon smiled and declared,

"Just checking. And one more thing. between you and me." She then stopped and looked cautiously around the room as if she were afraid to be heard. The Doctor playing along looked about and also leaned closer to Blon when she gestured for him to come closer. She then whispered,

"As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs." Blon began to exhale but found herself unable to when the Doctor pulled out a breath freshener spray and sprayed it in her mouth. She clicked her tongue not expecting her poison to be overpowered by banana mint mouth spray. Her breath smelt of decay anyway so quite frankly the Doctor would have given her mouth a spray of mint anyway if he had to sit near her much longer.

"That's better. Now then, what do you think? Mmm, steak looks nice. Steak and chips." Smiled the Doctor, reminding himself how much Rose loved chips. Maybe if he didn't finish he could bring home a doggy bag for Rose. She might be going out to eat and would probably come home full, but he knew that chips in the fridge for reheating were always appreciated. Especially when the TARDIS had the ability to reheat food as if it had just been cooked every time.

* * *

Mickey and Rose had just finished eating pizza slices and hot apple cider at a local Pizzeria that turned out to be quite close to the TARDIS, only a few blocks away. Rose had not been in a mood for a formal sit down and the two had just ordered what was hot and ready and then sat down for about a half hour eating in the slightly drafty front of the restaurant. Rose had been starving for food and unfortunately had not been much conversation as she ate down three slices of everything, except for anchovies, pizza. Mickey had been amazed at how quickly she ate and despite the fact that he had ordered only one slice of the same pizza and a garlic knot, they both had finished at the exact same time. Having filled their stomachs Mickey had then suggested that they try hitting a few bars, which they were now on their way to do.

Rose, because she had not said much earlier, now felt compelled to make conversation and began to tell Mickey of some of her exciting adventures with the Doctor in the TARDIS. Rose told Mickey about Space Mardi Gras and how New Orleans, the planet, not the Earth city, was just one big party planet for most of the year. She spoke fondly of the woman who had helped save her that the Doctor met but she had not and about the Red Cloak drug and how the Doctor had saved her life. Rose had tried to down play the danger she was in but Mickey was still horrified at what he heard. Rose went on about other planets and Mickey was listening, but it seemed his mind was now elsewhere.

"The Doctor took me to this planet a while back. It was much colder than this. They called it Woman Wept. The planet was actually called Woman Wept, because if you looked at it, right, from above, there's like this huge continent, like all curved round. It sort of looked like a woman, you know, lamenting. Oh my God, and we went to this beach, right. No people, no buildings, just this beach like a thousand miles across. And something had happened, something to do with the sun, I don't know, but the sea had just frozen. In a split second, in the middle of a storm, right, waves and foam, just frozen, all the way out to the horizon. Midnight, right, we walk underneath these waves a hundred feet tall, made of ice." Rose said excitedly.

"Rose, please. I know you like this dangerous crazy life with the Doctor, but it's not safe. You'll get hurt if you keep at this, just…can't you just come home to London where it's safe? I can't think of you in danger and there's nothing I can do to help. A normal life is best, a normal life is safe. I can protect you there." Pleaded Mickey as he let his entire worries flood out of his mouth finally. Rose was taken aback by the sudden outburst for a moment but replied,

"Mickey…I look, I'm not disregarding your concerns, but this is my life now. In the TARDIS with my husband. And besides you remember the trouble we found in London? It's just as dangerous." Mickey did not buy that excuse and with a hurt and frustrated voice stated,

"But it's him. He's the one that brings the danger. I am not convinced that that man is the same one you married. Rose you're chasing a ghost; he's never going to be like your John was. John was a human and the Doctor is an alien."

"I know that Mickey, he'll never be exactly the same again, but I love the Doctor and John is still part of the Doctor. I've fallen in love with him all over again, Mickey. And there is always going to be danger in traveling. I shouldn't let that scare me and keep me from traveling. The Doctor keeps me as safe as he can, I feel safe with him." Shouted Rose back, she then placed her hand to her forehead. This argument was starting to give her a headache. Mickey composed himself. He was realizing that he was really upsetting Rose, but was still not very happy.

"Well glad one of us thinks he's safe, then." Said Mickey sarcastically under his breath. He felt quite embarrassed about pretty much begging Rose to leave her 'husband' and come away with him, which he had already had promised himself he would not do. That promise to himself was now broken and quite badly, after a quiet moment he then asked,

"So, tell us more about this planet, then." He wanted to change the subject back to something that was more pleasant than their failed former relationship. Rose shrugged,

"That was it, really." Rose went to follow Mickey but stopped a few feet behind him and leaned over on to a waste bin. She felt her stomach turn upside-down and was suddenly really regretting having eaten all that pizza. To be honest she had been feeling a little off all day in her stomach but just assumed that either she was having an off day or she was hungry. Mickey raced to Rose's side when he saw that she was in distress and just as he placed his hand on her shoulder, Rose threw up the contents of her stomach into the waste bin.

* * *

Back at the Bistro 10 restaurant the Doctor was not faring any better as he was at his wits end listening to the Slitheen try to con her way out of being delivered to justice where flat out attempted murder had failed. With a grim and angry voice the alien woman explained the details of her fate that the Doctor was set on bringing her to.

"Public execution's a slow death. They prepare a thin acetic acid, lower me into the cauldron and boil me. The acidity is perfectly gauged to strip away the skin. Internal organs fall out into the liquid, and I become soup. And still alive, still screaming." The Doctor appeared to be unmoved by the alien's description much to the Slitheen's irritation.

"I don't make the law." Announced the Doctor.

"But you deliver it. Will you stay to watch?" She asked the Doctor who then rolled his eyes exasperated and retorted,

"What else can I do?" He knew what this creature was capable of. She had no care or love for anything or any life but her own and would sacrifice anything or one to continue to keep breathing. Blon thinking that she might have broken a hole in his armor pleaded,

"The Slitheen family's huge. There's a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe." The Doctor looked at her as if he couldn't believe that she was trying to give this to him as an option. If he let her go she'd just go on being evil.

"But then you'll just start again." He explained to the condemned Slitheen, to which she in a panic promised that she would not. Which the Doctor did not believe, the disgusting disguise she wore was proof enough to her commitment to murder, lie and steal to get what she wanted.

"You've been in that skin suit too long. You've forgotten. There used to be a real Margaret Blaine. You killed her and stripped her and used the skin. You're pleading for mercy out of a dead woman's lips." The doctor pointed out. Blon looked as if she had just recalled the nature and circumstances that she had acquired her disguise and straightening up and not backing down argued,

"Perhaps I have got used to it. A human life, an ordinary life. That's all I'm asking. Give me a chance, Doctor. I can change."

"I don't believe you." Said the Doctor plainly and Blon looked down on to the table, seemingly defeated in her argument for her life for the moment.

* * *

Was there anything more disgusting than vomiting? Perhaps vomiting without water to get rid of the remaining sick in your mouth was close. Rose pulled out some tissues in her pocket and began to wipe the foul smelling sick from her nose and mouth. It burned.

"I'm sorry Rose, I knew that pizza place looked dodgy, but the price was right." Said Mickey apologizing and hoping that he wasn't the next one to throw up. He kept checking if his own stomach was showing any signs of trouble as he rubbed Rose's back to help settle her stomach. Rose didn't think it was the pizza and let out a huge burp that felt very good.

"I need something for my stomach." Declared Rose as she slumped down onto a bench near the bin. Rose them came back to her senses and realized that she might just have fainted. Mickey helped Rose to her feet and seeing her so miserable he had an idea.

"I saw a chemist open a block back, it's late but it might still be open. Let's go there." Suggested Mickey, Rose gave a very shaky okay and leaning heavily on the man walked the block to the chemist. Maybe they'd have ginger beer as well.

* * *

It was nearing the end of the female chemist's shift and she was ready to close up for the night when she heard the ding of the store front door and two people walked in. Well one walked in and the other was sort of carried a bit through her door. She let out a sigh, she wanted to get home and watch her Detective mystery programs with her sister. She loved that stuff and in a perfect world she would have been a detective like Sherlock Holmes instead of a Chemist to pay the bills. She just hoped that the two would be in and out quick and then she could get home. Still might as well entertain herself with deducting in the meantime. She liked to watch people and either try to deduce things about them, like Sherlock Holmes would, or make up stories for her own amusement. She saw more than enough strange people in a day to make a game of it. The Chemist, by how the man was holding the woman, assumed that the man was probably her boyfriend/ lover or had been in the past at least. Guessing the time of day she figured that the woman was probably drunk and needed relief for a hangover.

"Can I help you?" Asked the Chemist, of the small pharmacy, with mild concern as she looked at the pale woman. Rose steadied herself to her feet, and waved an assuring hand at Mickey that she was fine and then leaned hard on the counter in front of the chemist.

"I just threw up and I think I might have fainted, what can I take?" Rose asked in a shaky voice. Predicting where this was going the chemist asked in a bored voice,

"Have you been drinking tonight, ma'am?" Expecting a heavy 'yes,' the chemist's concerned were heighted slightly when the blond woman answered the negative. She did like problem solving and something other than a hung-over customer was a much more interesting mystery to solve. The Chemist tried to narrow down what would be the best over the counter drug to suggest by asking the woman more questions. After a short 'Q and A,' she had determined that the woman had been feeling off all day to start and that the man and woman had both eaten the same thing earlier at the same place, so that would have ruled out possible food poisoning. Unless the man had a really stronger stomach then he would at least be feeling a little sick too. Otherwise food poisoning might have explained the throwing up, but not the fainting. She would have suspected the woman to faint if she didn't have food in her stomach. It wasn't like the chemist was an authority on this sort of thing she was no Doctor, she was just experienced with what ailed people. One of her suspicions was way out there and probably not even close to right, most likely it was just a stomach bug, but she might as well get it out of the way just to be safe.

"Are you pregnant by any chance?" She asked. The woman had to admit that she always liked the look on people's faces when she asked that. Rose laughed nervously at the question along with Mickey and was about to say no, no chance of that when she thought about the last time she had a monthly. Time was always a messed up and confusing thing on the TARDIS, but come to think of it after almost a half a year and time before that without one she was most probably due. She tried to think back in time, but the last time she remembered was a month before this whole adventure in time and space had started. Rose blanched at the ridiculousness of it, but still couldn't shake the idea. After all she had not been on the pill since John became the Doctor again. It wasn't like she felt that she needed it anytime soon and filling prescriptions had been the last thing on her mind time traveling. Not to mention the fact that Time Lords and humans were not genetically compatible, so what was there to worry about if the Doctor did actually decide to be with her in the married sense.

The chemist looked at Rose's expression as if she had just zeroed in on the problem and pointed to the boxes on the shelves next to the corner. Rose walked over and grabbing one of the little boxes saw that it was a home pregnancy test. Rose thought that she was being completely foolish, but then her mind flashed to all the times in her adventures, even fairly recently where she had had times she could not account for, mostly when she was unconscious. And who knows what can happen to you then, or even what walking around on an alien planet could do to you. But wouldn't the TARDIS or the Doctor have suspected if something like that had happened? Scenario after scenario played in her head and before she knew it she was buying the test. She convinced herself that this was just to be safe, and rule out any crazy ideas so she could treat what was really wrong with her. She and Mickey would have a laugh about it in the pub later, so what was a few quid for peace of mind? Mickey looked uncomfortable in general and gob smacked that Rose had actually bought it. Rose asked quickly if she could use the bathroom. The Chemist looked at the clock and saw that ten minutes were still remanding before closing. She sighed and pointed to the store bathroom. It was for paying customers only and the woman had bought something. The Chemist thought that she could joke about this with her sister later, it would be a good story to tell tonight, she reasoned to herself. Rose hurried into the small restroom and the Chemist and Mickey were left to wait in awkward silence.

The chemist not having anything else to do in the meantime sold Mickey an anti-nausea medication that was also conveniently safe for expectant mothers and a bottle of water for dehydration. She wanted to save time and, regardless of the results, get the couple out of the store as soon as the woman finished her test.

"Make sure she drinks plenty of water, yeah?" Said the Chemist to Mickey as he anxiously clutched the package of pills and the bottle he held in his hands.

A few minutes later Rose emerged from the bathroom ashen and after quietly thanking the chemist walked out of the store leaving Mickey behind. Realizing that she had now left, Mickey followed after her pretty sure that this was the worst 'date' he'd ever been on. The chemist had had to fight the urge to congratulate or claim that she called it since she wasn't sure if the couple saw this as a good thing. She seen this time and time again and just hoped that things worked out for the poor blond woman.

**Author's Note:** There it's done. The idea I have been debating for months if I would actually follow through with and softly laying hints of is now out in the open. I think one of you caught on or at least wrote me that you did, I just didn't want to say anything until the right time. Tell me what you thing, let me have it! Wow this was a long chapter…


	49. Ch 49 - I feel the Earth move

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 49 – I feel the Earth move under my feet**

* * *

Rose was aimlessly walking in a daze and Mickey was catching up behind her. It was impossible that this should happen to her. She literally had not been with a man since John. Meaning even if there was the remotest possibility, John would be the only likely reason she would be in such a state. It had to be a mistake. The test had to be wrong. She should go and buy another one to be sure. She was usually good about protection, when she was on the pill though she might have missed a day once in a while or forgotten to take it at the same time each day. She had done her best to be responsible but, she'd been busy with school then too and sometimes she'd forget to take it, if she was running late for a morning class, it was understandable. That could explain why she might find herself pregnant, but that was unfeasible, that was months ago, so why was she even thinking about months ago? She'd be showing more now if she had been pregnant months ago. Obviously something horrible had happened to her without knowing it far more recently. What was she going to do, what would the Doctor say if he found out if she was really pregnant? What would he do? Would he accuse her of being unfaithful and messing around when to the better part of her knowledge she had done no such thing? Surely he had to know that she was faithful to him and this was done to her against her will or knowledge. What if he left her for good over it? They had just started to get close to each other again. What would happen if you threw a child, who couldn't be his, into the mix? Could their marriage, which was already on life support, survive this too? Rose finally noticed Mickey at her side and needing someone to talk to she stopped walking and looked at him with panicked eyes.

"But that's impossible Mickey. I haven't been with anyone in months. Not since, John…" Rose put her hands up to her abdomen and for a moment a warm feeling seemed to wash over her. She had been freaking out but as if someone had shot a drug into her system she felt for the moment calm and peaceful thoughts replace panicked ones. The world around her disappeared. She couldn't explain it but all she could think about for the moment was that the last person she had been with was John and the thought of having his baby. That their baby was growing inside her now. The possibility made her feel in a way so loved and close to him. Then the reality of basic human biology kicked in again and shattered that happy thought. And Mickey, the cold, and Cardiff came back into view.

"Can't be. I wouldn't be just finding out now it's been almost 6 months since we… I'd be as big as a house by now. Not just starting to show signs." Declared Rose in a dejected voice to herself more than to anyone else. Mickey didn't know what to do. All he could see was Rose breaking down in front of him and it was as if she were a million miles away. Well he couldn't stand there just gaping at her and looking like someone struck him dumb, he had to say something to kill the silence. And he found himself, in spite of himself, asking a personal question. It was as if he couldn't control it and his mind wanting to know let his mouth run wild.

"You mean you and the Doctor, I mean since he changed you two haven't… Or that Captain cheese cake…" asked Mickey but then trailed off when he realized the subject that he was asking about. Rose was a bit miffed at the question, but holding back any information wasn't going to solve her mystery any faster.

"No Mickey, I haven't had sex with anyone since I've been on the TARDIS. Jack is like a brother to me and Jack sort of hinted to me, well they both have hinted, that… that Time Lords… Well humans and Time Lords aren't compatible, so they can muck about with anyone and no problem." Rose explained in earnest.

"So even if you wanted to have them you can't… I'm sorry, Rose." Mickey said sincerely. He felt that everyone should have the opportunity to have children if they really wanted them and would love them. He thought Rose was a wonderful person and would make an excellent mother one day. That was just one of the many reasons why Rose was attractive to him.

"But then how are you…? Maybe it's a botched test. Or who knows what happened to you on those weird planets without you knowing. Could have been something in the air too!" Added Mickey. Rose rolled her eyes at the suggestion of walking on a planet and becoming pregnant because of it, in a panic she had humored the idea but now it seemed very unlikely. The Doctor as protective as he was wouldn't let that happen to her. This was inconceivable, ironically, that this was even happening to her. Then once more Rose remembered that while she was on New Orleans, she had obviously had time she could not account for. She began to panic, what if they had done something to her while she was unconscious and she really was pregnant with some strange alien's baby? Who knew how that would work with a cross species pregnancy, maybe she would be pregnant for much longer and that's why signs took longer to surface. She wanted to feel violated, but for some reason she couldn't. And that frustrated and confused her even more.

Mickey was beside himself with worry for Rose and he tried to wrap his head around the possibilities for a few moments more. Then he thought of something that Rose had told her about the nature of a drug that she was under the influence of. The type that stopped all new cell tissue from growing or dying for months and then it dawned on him. If Rose had to be pregnant at all, he would rather it not be an alien but a human being, personally. Not that he had a say in the matter, but a human child was better than some stranger alien's child any day of the week and he prayed that his wild assumption, for Rose's sake was accurate. And could help provide some form of comfort.

"Rose, Red Cloak!" He piped up. Rose looked puzzled as to why he just shouted that. She was more concerned with what had happened while she was unconscious than that drug. When Mickey had said that, her mind had already been light years ahead thinking about possible times a few weeks ago when she had been unconscious, not six months ago. Just at the thought of the drug made her think of waking up naked in a box and all the possibilities between then and the time she was drugged and she voiced her panic out loud.

"What about it? Oh, I know I was unconscious for a long time too! I can't account for that time. Oh god, Mickey. What do I do? I'm pregnant and I'm not even sure who the father is!" she said growing more upset to which Mickey asked in a calm voice, trying to make her relax. Mickey could see that Rose wasn't catching what he was trying to imply and having an opposite effect to what he wanted. He'd have to spell it out for her.

"You were red cloaked the equivalent of 5 months ago, right? So what if you were pregnant before that? You said every cell stops growing and preserves itself or something, yeah? A baby is part of you too! What if it stopped growing too?" Said Mickey as he prayed that his logic to how an alien drug he never heard of before was as obvious as it sounded.

Rose took a moment to digest that suggestion. Oh if that were true and she had not been recently impregnated. If it could be true that the only person she had been with was the father of her child that would be indeed preferable. Could she hope for such a thing? Well she sort of had to or she would break down here on the street and never get up again. She chose her words carefully and cautiously spoke.

"So there wouldn't be any new growth in me or the baby! For five months. Like putting a pause button on pregnancy. So there might be a chance that it's John's… Oh my God!" Exclaimed Rose, she put her hands on her stomach and prayed that that didn't cause any damage or harm to her child. This was all guess work but it was starting to make a bit of sense. Rose thought back on her time table on the TARDIS it was so hard to tell. She had been trying to keep track by referring to her own watch for the dates. She couldn't have been on the TARDIS any longer than four weeks before she was red cloaked. Was that time enough to not show signs of pregnancy yet? She thought and she remembered her mother once saying that she didn't start throwing up when she was carrying for at least a month into it. Maybe that was the same for her and if she had not had a pause button put on her she might have started throwing up the next week or so of her time-traveling trip's beginning! Rose got excited and declared to Mickey,

"Same day before the Family of Blood attacked that night… John and I… Oh Mickey, it could be John's!" Rose desperately hoped that she could rule out alien abduction as the source of her pregnancy. She had no way to tell, it wasn't like she could just run a paternity DNA analysis. The more she thought about her predicament the more she worried about the possibility that the father was not John. But that left another problem if it was John. It dawned on Rose that she was a human mother with the possibly human child of a now not human father. Again she wondered what the Doctor would think. Would he accept a child made when he was John as his own flesh and blood, without a bit of Time Lord blood in them? He was only just starting to accept her as his wife again, well live in girlfriend really, if she was painfully honest. Would he ever see her as his wife again? What happened now that a child was in the mix of the domestics? How would she explain any of this to her child about her father and why he is and isn't their father, genetically speaking. Was this even the best social environment to raise a child in? Worse still what would the Doctor think or do if the child wasn't even John's? Again, what if he thought that she cheated on him somehow? Thousands of bad possibilities ran screaming around her head until Rose, in a moment of clarity, decided those thoughts were putting the carriage before the horse and that she should first make sure that she was in fact pregnant. The TARDIS could have much better tests in the med bay. If she knew how to use any of the equipment. Maybe the TARDIS would help her out. Were there any books on pregnancy in that impossibly large library on the TARDIS that she could use? Or hell an idiots guide to DNA analysis or sonograms? Either way she needed to know two vital things: Was she pregnant and who was the father? And if John was the father, she hoped that the Doctor would react positively. Rose wanted the Doctor to be happy about this news, if the child was John's, and she hoped that he would say he wanted the child when and if she got the courage to tell him…the Doctor would be happy, yeah?... Surely he would see the child as a blessing that they wouldn't have had been able to have otherwise. The child of the human version of yourself had to be better than none at all. But she had doubts. She had to tell him, she just needed to think of how she would tell him.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Asked Mickey handing her the medicine and the water. She looked at the label, saw that it was safe for a woman in her possible condition and downed the pills with a big swig of water.

"I don't know." Sighed Rose to herself. Trying to break the tension Mickey then joked,

"Suppose. The bar down there with the Spanish name or something is out of the question now."

"I suppose it is, sorry…I guess we should head back now. I could do with a nap, boring me, yeah?" Rose forced herself to laugh and the two started walking towards the TARDIS.

* * *

Blon was now desperately begging for the Doctor to reconsider and spare her. She had been at it non-stop and the Doctor could not take it much longer. When was that food going to get here already? He picked up his wine glass and took another sip. He could swear that he had been nursing the same non-poison laced wine glass for an hour now. He placed the glass down and proceeded to listen to Blon once more without giving away any hint of expression.

"I promise you I've changed since we last met, Doctor." Insisted the Slitheen and then she continued,

"There was this girl, just today. A young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. And then I stopped. She's alive somewhere right now. She's walking around this city because I can change. I did change. I know I can't prove it." The Doctor looked off to the side and then back to the alien. He knew what it was she had done and he knew why she did it. He knew it too well and he declared,

"I believe you." Margaret looked relieved and declared,

"Then you know I'm capable of better." She might be getting through to him after all, she thought but then the Doctor said,

"It doesn't mean anything." Anyone could just let someone live for the hell of it. It didn't prove a thing except that you had whims.

"I spared her life." Blon Slitheen stated plainly, this was a very big thing to her, especially her. It irritated her to no end that she felt that he was undermining what she viewed as a big deal in behavioral change. It was a redeeming quality!

"You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared because she smiled, because he's got freckles, because they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind." Hissed the Doctor in a lecturing tone. It wasn't like he was without mercy, quite frankly he thought he had too much sometimes, but he had to think of what was best for the universe. He always had the well-being of the universe on his back. He knew that leaving this dangerous criminal out and about would only lead to more harm.

"Only a killer would know that." Spat Margaret in a judging voice, and she hissed,

"Is that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy go lucky little life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on because you dare not look back. Playing with so many peoples' lives, you might as well be a god. Like how you play with your little pet human's lives. The yellow one in particular, oh what I can smell off of her. And you're right, Doctor. You're absolutely right. Sometimes you let one go. Let me go." The Doctor swallowed slightly.

* * *

Mickey and Rose had been slowly but surely walking back in relative silence. Mickey saw the struggling confused look on Rose's face and could only imagine what she was thinking right now. He had known enough expecting mothers of unplanned babies on the Estate to have a small idea what they worried about. He wanted Rose to know that she wasn't alone and he was still an option and a very nice option if she needed and wanted it. He didn't have too much faith in the Doctor helping her with this situation after viewing his flighty behavior in the past. Quietly he said,

"Rose, if this is too much, I can help you. I just don't think this Doctor bloke is well the type to be saddled down with a kid. Even if it was John's, I honestly don't think he'd want it. I'm less complicated than he is... You could come back to me." Rose looked at him but did not say anything. Nervous Mickey continued,

"I mean, come on, how many blokes would say they'd help you with raising some other blokes kid, yeah? I mean I can be there for you if he isn't." Rose was very tired of Mickey again saying bad things about her husband. He wasn't the villain that Mickey thought he was or was trying to convince her that he was. With anger in her voice born of the situation she found herself in and exhaustion she stated,

"Okay, first off, Mickey, I appreciate the offer. It means a lot to me that you would offer to help me raise a child that's not yours. But I stay with the Doctor because I have more faith in him than that. I have doubts but the Doctor is a good man and at the end of the day through all the heartache and frustration, that trait always shine's through. And what do you mean less complicated? We are just as complicated in our human ways. And what if the child isn't John's and is in fact some other alien. What if I have it and it's got three heads? I don't think that will fit in with your 'normal' life plan, yeah? So stop bad mouthing my husband. You're my friend Mickey and I love you but, as a friend, that's it." Mickey was silent for a moment but then piped back his retort.

"I'm not asking you to leave him, I'm saying you could if you wanted to. I've giving you that option! And quite frankly I think it's a rather good one, excuse me for caring about you! Excuse me for being reliable and consistent. I just thought that those were some nice qualities in a man you were missing lately." Snapped Mickey now losing his patience at her accusations. Rose and Mickey were now getting into a stressed argument, that unresolved relationship issues and fatigue probably had everything to do with. Rose was about to snap back a comment when she heard a deep rumble.

"Is that thunder?" Rose asked, turning her head from the argument that she was deeply in. Mickey looked perplexed and asked if it mattered? Worry washed over her and she knowingly declared,

"That's not thunder."

* * *

"In the family Slitheen, we had no choice. I was made to carry out my first kill at thirteen. If I'd refused, my father would have fed me to the Venom Grubs. If I'm a killer, it's because I was born to kill. It's all I know." Said Blon in a pleading voice to the Doctor. As she was talking she noticed that the Doctor was looking off to side and anywhere else. If she had to sit here and beg for her life, she would at least like him to give her his full attention. Affronted she asked,

"Doctor, are you even listening to me?" The Doctor listened harder and asked the Slitheen if she could hear what he was hearing.

"I'm begging for my life." Implored Blon. The Doctor told her to be quiet and listen. He then looked down at the table and saw that the glasses were beginning to vibrate. Then in a flash the plate glass window of the restaurant shattered and the other patrons screamed in terror.

* * *

It seemed as if the people of Cardiff were experiencing an earthquake. An earthquake! That was something never heard of, but Rose knew that if anything out the ordinary was happening then the Doctor would be in the middle of it and she needed to offer him whatever help she could. Without even looking back at Mickey Rose ran for the TARDIS it was very close and she probably could make it running without passing out again. She was feeling a little better thanks to the medicine and water, and hoped it would be enough. She thought that she heard Mickey shouting something but she had no time to go back and hear what he had said.

The Doctor was now running for his TARDIS at full speed with Margaret tagging behind. The Doctor ran very fast and the Slitheen's life depended on keeping up with him. This was not easy with her bulk. She falling behind an didn't want to get fried, so she shouted to the Doctor,

"The handcuffs!" Remembering about the cuffs now, the Doctor waited for the Slitheen to catch up and took off the bangles.

"Don't think you're running away." Warned the Doctor.

"Oh, I'm sticking with you. Some date this turned out to be!" Declared Margaret. The Doctor grabbed onto her hand and pulled her the rest of the way to the spot the TARDIS was located. To his horror, energy was streaming from the TARDIS into the sky.

"It's the rift. The rift's opening!" said the Doctor in a worried voice as he stared wide eyed. They ran the last distance to the TARDIS and ran inside. All the while Rose was racing to reach the TARDIS as well with the added peril of the ground cracking beneath her feet! Rose reached the TARDIS and saw the pillar of energy shooting off above it and knew that her husband had to be in there. Any sane person probably would have run the other way now but she would never abandon the Doctor.

"No guts, no glory." Rose chirped as she went into a full sprint towards the danger, all the while dodging and outrunning more open cracks in the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shouted the Doctor to Jack as he ran to the console to run a diagnostic on what the ever loving hell was going on with his TARDIS. Margaret walked off to the side and out of the way as the Doctor went to work.

"It just went crazy!" Screamed Jack back at the Doctor as he too was trying to fix the problem. The Doctor looked over the scanner and declared,  
"It's the rift. Time and space are ripping apart. The whole city's going to disappear!"

"It's the extrapolator. I've disconnected it but it's still feeding off the engine! It's using the TARDIS. I can't stop it!" Hissed Jack feeling quite helpless as the TARDIS sparked violently. The Doctor was continuing to survey the damage. It wasn't just the city that was at risk anymore.

"Never mind Cardiff, it's going to rip open the planet." Declared the Doctor. The Doctor flinched, he heard a boom, but it was just the TARDIS doors opening and shutting. Rose had returned to the TARDIS and was she ever confused and panicked.

"What is it? What's happening?!" Rose shouted a bit winded. Rose then felt her air way being constricted more than it would be from just a hard run.

"Oh, just little me." Smirked Margaret and Rose realized with horror that her neck was in a stranglehold of a Slitheen. She had tore off a piece of her skin suit and a big green and slimy hand attached to a very inhuman arm was protruding from Margaret's bosy. She had seen another person with the same hand around their throat and he had been killed. Rose tried very hard to breathe but was finding it harder and harder and her head was getting heavier and dizzier as she looked to the Doctor with tears in her eyes. The Doctor needed no words to know that Rose's eyes were begging her mate for assistance.

"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise. It'd be a shame to lose more humans tonight, don't you think?" Hissed Margaret knowing full well that the death toll that would unavoidably be coming after her plan was fulfilled were all the humans and the planet anyway. She just really liked taunting her prey. What a fool the Doctor was, even though he knew that she was going to destroy the planet and the female would be dead anyway, he still couldn't risk his carrying mate for the scant few remaining minutes until he and all the humans on this miserable planet were dead. She had suspected that the yellow one was hiding a secret the first time they had met but now she knew. Whether the Doctor knew or didn't though was of little concern to her. The Doctor was fond of the human anyway and self preservation on the human female's side for both her and her offspring would keep her in line as a hostage.

"I might've known." Growled the Doctor at the alien monster.

"I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it. You, fly boy, put the extrapolator at my feet." Growled Margaret as she tugged Rose roughly along. She had Rose practically walking on her tip toes; Margaret had her lifted so uncomfortably off the ground. When Jack hesitated, the Slitheen violently tugged Rose's neck back and squeezed her throat tighter. Rose's face turn colors and she clawed at the greenish hand desperate for air. She could feel something coming close to breaking in her neck and her eyes watered more. The Doctor felt as if knives had been stabbed into his hearts at the sight of Rose in such peril and nodded to Jack. Infuriated at the Slitheen Jack obeyed and put the device at the hated alien's feet.

"Thank you. Just as I planned. Though the hostage adds a entertaining touch." Gloated Margaret with an oily smile.

"I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station." Gasped Rose through her severely restricted wind pipe. The Slitheen stroked Rose's head as if she were a dog and squeezed some more on her neck. Rose let out another painful whimpering cry that dug into the Doctor.

"Failing that, if I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator." Smirked Margaret as she continued to play a game and tightening and then letting go of Rose's throat only to squeeze harder again. Rose didn't know how much more of this she could take and she tried so hard just to get half a pinky's width of space between her neck and the Slitheen's grip. The Slitheen was now only just holding back the bloodlust to snap the little human's neck, but that she could do just before the planet exploded so that she could have the satisfaction of seeing the Doctor's last moments full of lonely despair.

"Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to plan B. To lock onto the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule, thanks to you." The Slitheen declared with no remorse of what she was about to do. It had all been just an act though if she could have convinced the Doctor to let her go then that would have been a feather in her cap too.

"The rift's going to convulse. You'll destroy the whole planet." Spat of Jack with anger at the destruction the Slitheen was about to unleash.

"And you with it!" Growled Margaret as she stood on the extrapolator and swung Rose painful around to her other side. Rose felt herself black out for an instant but managed to hold on to consciousness as she watched the monster with fear at arm's length, literally.

"While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back, boys. Surf's up." Joked Margaret with grim satisfaction.

The surge outside began to reach critical levels and the TARDIS console flashed and strobed with power until a part of the console cracked open. Part of the console panel lifted up and bright light hit Margaret. Margaret looked at the light with stunned and fearful fascination, but Rose instinctually looked away.

"Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart." Said the Doctor with a knowing look at Margaret.

"So sue me." Hissed Margaret unconcerned. The Doctor knew that the alien did not get what he was saying so he continued,

"It's not just any old power source. It's the TARDIS. My TARDIS. The best ship in the universe." The Doctor smiled slightly with pride at his TARDIS. Margaret was unmoved by his boast and commented that it would make wonderful scrap. Rose looked out of the corner of her eye at the bright light swirling about the cracks in the console. It was far too bright to look head on.

"What's that light?" Gasped Rose still in the Slitheen's grip. The Doctor addressed Margaret simply,

"The heart of the TARDIS. This ship's alive. You've opened its soul." Margaret now stared captivated by the warm and over powering light from the TARDIS.

"It's so bright." She all but hummed.

"Look at it, Margaret." Encouraged the Doctor knowing what would come next. The Slitheen commented that the light and soul of the TARDIS was beautiful.

"Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light." Instructed the Doctor and Margaret did just that. She relaxed and her hand around Rose's neck also relaxed leaving Rose the chance to get free. Rose then shakily ran over to Jack who took her into his arms and supported her all but dead weight, as she continued to gasp for air. Margaret stared at the light some more and then she looked up at the Doctor, smiling. And then said a heartfelt, Thank you before disappearing in the light, leaving only an empty bodysuit on the extrapolator. Without Blon blocking the light anymore the Doctor yelled to his human companions,

"Don't look. Stay there. Close your eyes!" The Doctor ran to the console and the after pushing a few buttons the open bit of the console closed back up and the light was gone.

"Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut down! Rose, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right." Commanded the Doctor to which Jack and Rose obeyed. The three worked at the console and nervously waited to see what would happen as the TARDIS glowed and sparked. To their relief a few moments later the energy surge stopped and the TARDIS although beaten up went back to normal.

"Nicely done. Thank you, all." Sighed the Doctor, he was happy that they had averted the disaster.

"What happened to Margaret?" Asked Rose confused.

"Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence." Declared Jack at the memory of the hated alien. The Doctor was looking down at the floor where the skin suit and extrapolator remained and stated,

"No, I don't think she's dead." Rose perplexed then asked where it was that she went?

"She looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic, like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts." Said the Doctor in a curious voice as he looked through the skin suit and pulled out a large greenish looking egg with dreadlocks on the top of it.

"Here she is." Smiled the Doctor to which Rose incredulously stated,

"She's an egg?"

"Regressed to her childhood." Said the Doctor matter-of-factly.

"She's an egg?" Parroted Jack in similar disbelief.

"She can start again. Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly, she might be all right!" Grinned the Doctor.

"Or she might be worse." Declared Jack with less faith in the alien to change her ways. The Doctor just smirked that that was her choice. All he could do now was hope that she would become a better person with a new lease on life.

"She's an egg." Stated Rose again, trying still to grasp what had just happened.

"She's an egg." Smiled the Doctor and he carefully held the technically young life in his hand. Rose watched the Doctor then carefully placed the egg on a secure perch near the TARDIS time Rotor, making a little space-age nest for the small life. Apparently the perch would provide the egg with the optimum condition that the egg needed to survive. The TARDIS could bump around all she liked but that egg would not be moving. She was amazed at how careful he was being with hideous looking thing that had once been a sworn enemy. He was treating it with as much care as if it was his own offspring and Rose was struck with a bit more courage. Mickey couldn't be right about the Doctor when he was that kindly with an enemy.

"Oh, my God. Mickey." Shouted Rose as she ran for the TARDIS door. She had been in such a hurry to get back to the TARDIS that she had completely forgotten about him. There was a lot of damage outside caused by the surge that she had seen and she worried that Mickey could have been injured. Rose once outside ran across the cracked plaza, back to the area that she had left Mickey. Her heart sunk when she spotted ambulances taking away the injured. What if Mickey were among those being taken away? Little did she know that Mickey was watching her from the shadows, he did not look happy. Having seen Rose he then walked away. Rose ran up to a paramedic and asked if anyone matching Mickey's description had been taken away and much to her relief no one that looked like Mickey had been injured. A few minutes later Rose was back in the TARDIS.

"We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go, if that's all right." Announced the Doctor. Rose agreed that that was fine with her.

"How's Mickey?" Asked the Doctor. He still didn't care much for the human male but he knew that he was important to Rose, so after all this he could at least try to be civil about him. Rose reflected on how much Mickey had helped her tonight and she was grateful to him for it. She really didn't think she deserved such a good friend. She just wished that she had not left him on such a note and that she had had a chance to settle things with him before she left. And to thank him too, she was on her own now. On her own with this secret, so now what did she do with it? She guessed that she should tell the Doctor.

"He's okay. He's gone, sends his best to all of you." Said Rose with a strained smile as she looked at her two fellow time-travelers. The Doctor happy to be on his way started to dance around the console ready for the next adventure though a bit more quiet this time would be alright with him. They had an egg to drop off at a planet where unlike the Slitheen most of its inhabitance were quite law-abiding and friendly.

"Off we go, then. Always moving on. And nothing slowing us down." Rose watched the Doctor at his best, alive and free spirited. He had a sense of adventure that could not be tamed and she knew that wasn't a way of life that he would give up easily as good a man as he was. Rose couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him yet. She had too many fears of how he would react. She had made this big dissertation to Mickey about how much she trusted the doctor but now she was cowering away. Maybe she could somehow, if she asked the TARDIS for help, she could gather more information about what to do next. She needed to be more prepared before she could drop such a big bomb of information on the Doctor. She just hoped that she could keep this secret from the Doctor for a few days more until she built up the nerve to tell him what she suspected had happened to her.

"Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now you don't often get to say that." Joked Jack as he helped at the TARDIS console.

"We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again. Find herself some parents that want her to love and raise her properly, as good parents do." Smiled the Doctor to his companions.

"That'd be nice." Stated Rose plainly as she very subtly placed her hand on the side of her abdomen and watched the Doctor as he punched in coordinates.

* * *

Rose was now a permanent fixture in the Smith house and often found herself staying in with John for the night to do some fun activity together. Like cooking, reading in his cozy library, or watching a movie. On this night however, Rose had come into John's room to watch a movie while eating cookies. They had just made said cookies and were eating them in his bed, just so they could say that they ate cookies in bed. It was a funny movie and they were laughing and enjoying each other's company. Rose would on occasion steal a bite out of John's cookie only for him to return the favor when she wasn't looking. The night had progressed and eventually the two, after coming off their sugar high, crashed and fell asleep. Before they knew it they were waking up at 6 am on a Saturday morning in the same bed.

"Must have nodded off after the film." said John a bit red in the face from the fact that their bodies were intertwined in their pajamas. He had not been expecting their movie night to turn into a slumber party, normally Rose and he would go off to sleep in their own rooms, but tonight they had just fallen asleep in his bed. He hoped that Rose was not offended somehow.

"This is nice." smiled rose cuddling closer much to John's relief. John then squeaked in agreement when he felt Rose playfully squeeze his bum with a giggle. Call him crazy but he had a feeling that she didn't mind at all.

It was after that night that they agreed that this situation happening nightly was not a bad thing. The two from that day on slept together, but just for sleeping. And on occasion hot snogging, but nothing beyond that. It wasn't more than a week that went by this way before John against all sanity found himself making a decision. As he and Rose shared a warm dinner at home he thought of how much he never wanted to part from the beautiful woman now living with him ever again. He had been wrestling with this idea for a few days now and he probably should have a ring when he does it, but he couldn't wait any longer and decided on impulse or maybe on a surge of courage to do it and ask tomorrow morning.

Very nervous that night when he crawled into bed with Rose, for yet another night of wonderful closeness, he knew he wanted to go through with his plan but with Rose now asleep he would have to wait eight more hours to do it. He breathed in her scent and with Rose in his arms and his nerves on edge, he somehow managed to get to sleep. And before the alarm clock went off that morning he shut it off gently and kissed Rose awake. Rose turned over in bed and smiled a beaming smile, but as soon as she had felt herself coming pretty much back to the waking world, John's tender affections had ended. Confused and a bit miffed she raised her head off the pillow. She was greedily hoping that she could still get a back massage out of John just like two nights ago. She rose from the bed hair messy from the pillow and her tank top and pajama bottoms rumpled from a nights rest. She then quite clumsily threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat there. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and as the world came into focus she saw John kneeling in front of her on the floor in his pajamas. He smiled nervously and smirked,

"No lying, you look great first thing in the morning. One of the highlights of my day…As for me, I sort of felt that if you could accept this, the way I look first thing in the morning, then we are a sure thing." Rose giggled a bit confused and was about to ask what favor he had in mind that he wanted her to do, but he started talking again.

"Rose Tyler, I love you. And I want to wake up and start the day next to you every day for the rest of my life. I know that it's a bit mad to ask this the same time I'm telling you that 'I love you' for the first time…I mean, I don't even have a ring Rose, but we can pick out one you like later today. Just please say you will marry me. Marry me, Rose and make me the happiest I've ever been my whole life!" Said John in a voice that sounded a little on the begging side. He then held Rose's hands and kissed them tenderly. At first she was shocked and wondered if she were still dreaming. Rose then started giggling to herself. Here she was sitting in her pajamas just having woken up and John was on his knee popping her 'the question' in his jimjams. She must not have been awake. She stood up to make sure that she was in fact awake. It appeared that she was indeed in the waking world. She looked into his eyes and tentatively asked,

"Are you serious?" John's confidence began to wane but he had already stepped in it and he was going to see it all the way through.

"I am." He answered shyly but in earnest. 'He's asking me to marry him.' Rose thought to herself, they had only been together for a few months, they were from two different walks of life, they were the most unlikely pair she knew anywhere. She was a simple shop girl and he was a distinguished Professor. Anyone would tell her she was crazy for rushing into such an unlikely match. They would tell her that there would most likely be problems for her even if she was in it just for financial security, which she was not. She loved him dearly, more than any other man before. Yes, she was hopelessly in love with this man. And she was going to say,

"Yes!" She then threw herself into his arms and the force toppled him over onto the floor. She grinned into his neck and breathed in his scent. She loved this man and didn't know what she did to deserve him but she'd do it all over again.

"Yes John, I'll marry you." Cheered Rose with happy tears in her eyes. John didn't even have time to feel relieved before Rose had her lips on his. A strong kiss later, John was smiling and with a playful growl he scooped her up and threw her on the bed before putting the top half of himself over her, pinning her down gently but just a little possessively by the arms.

"You really want to marry an old git like me? You're sure?" Asked John with more confidence then he felt but he had to make sure.

"I'm not marrying an old git, I'm marrying a kind-hearted and wonderful gentleman who saves my life when I'm in trouble and makes me feel like I'm the most important person in the world."

"Wow, sounds like a great bloke. Do I know him?" Smirked John, as he kissed Rose's neck in a roguish manner. Rose playfully slapped him and giggled,

"It's you and you know it, you git."

"Ah, so you do think I am a git, then? The truth comes out." He laughed and then kissed her face some more eliciting a giggle from his new fiancé. Rose said he was sometimes a git, but not often enough to give him a bad review. Though unlike the other gits she had known, his gitness, if that was even a word, stemmed from his playful teasing of her. John marveled in how such a lovely and strong being had agreed to be his and he reverently nuzzled his cheek against hers all the while leaning a little more into her. Not enough to suffocate her but as to claim to the room that she was his and no more a stranger or out of place to the room or his bed than himself. Rose thought that they might be ready to take their relationship to the next physical step right there on the bed, but John had other ideas. Rose fueled by love had moved against him in a more intimate manner than she ever had before. Even more intimate than when they had woken up from sleep a few times intertwined with each other. She was no stranger to physical love, but John seemed to be to her. In truth he had had few intimate experiences with women in the past. He had had a few women try to get with him in a carnal sense but he recalled never going the next step. He had spent all his life hiding away in some lab working and was too involved in his mind inside for the outside world. It was only when he had decided to leave researching and become a teacher that he was really exposed to the greater diversity of humanity, including women. He had turned out to be a great teacher, he already knew he could lecture but it was the exciting atmosphere on a campus and its new ideas circulating that had made him decide to make it his life's direction from now on. Still he had not found that woman who interested him and he was beginning to wonder if she would ever come around, that was until Rose came into his life. And now he very much wanted that Rose to be his wife. He was now getting too excited at the thought of her as she was right now and he respected Rose too much to take her right now in the manner his mind was imagining. Fighting off the way his body wanted to respond in response to Rose's body, he managed to calm himself down. Kissing Rose on the nose he looked her in the eyes and she knew that that was not what this day or the immediate goal of his proposal was about. He respected and loved Rose beyond what she or he could physically offer and he wanted their first time to be when they both belonged to each other in every sense of the word.

"Rose, not yet." He squeaked willing his body to behave itself in front of such irresistible temptation. Rose was a little disappointed but then he explained that he wanted to wait until she was his wife and he was her husband. She could respect that. Besides Rose didn't have time to feel any impatience as John had then excitedly pulled her up off the bed to get ready for the day. Rose made it a point to John that he didn't want him wasting money on a diamond. She much rather hunt down the two matching rings that they would be soon wearing and that she couldn't wait to see on their hands. John smiled and although a bit disappointed that he couldn't give her a symbol of the engagement he was at least happy that she couldn't wait to put a ring on him.

"Come on, Rose. We have an adventure today. Somewhere out there in the cold world are our wedding rings and we have got to find them and rescue them!" Declared John as he ran for the wardrobe to get dressed for the day.

"What about breakfast?" Rose grinned. John said they'd eat out and he wanted to show off his fiancé to the world. Rose couldn't argue against that. The two then got dressed and giggled their way out the door to get breakfast and then to a jewelry store to buy two things matching and gold.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Looks like Rose has chickened out for the moment, she might need some time to adjust to this information before conveying it to her fellow time travelers. I had this planed for a while and as I said didn't know if I wanted to go through with it. Making Rose pregnant would give the Doctor and Rose an unrealistic time to spend as a dating couple before having another strain on the relationship. Then I thought up the Red Cloak story, which was created for the express purpose of giving the Doctor and Rose that time they needed before the last three episodes in the series. Still I think I was subtle enough that people were not too suspicious or thought Rose having a 'bun in the oven' was glaringly obvious. I hope you will continue to enjoy this twist as you can see it does complicate things.


	50. Chapter 50 -Jack and Rose co-conspirator

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

Chapter 50 – Jack and Rose co-conspirators

Ever since the Doctor started joining Rose in their bed at least until she nodded off to sleep, she found the experience to be either very relaxing or very frustrating. Tonight it was just terrifying. She was so worried that he would either somehow with his alien ways find her out or that she would throw up and give herself away. Even as the Doctor had run a dermal regenerator over her neck to heal the violent bruises left by Margaret Slitheen, she had been scared that somehow he would find out. The Doctor had noted that there seemed to be something off about Rose and her chemistry but he attributed that to yet another near death experience. He hated when Rose was in danger and it made him want to protect her all the more. After Cardiff and the egg drop off, he had seen to it that they had visited a pleasure planet and fun tourist sites that were nice and low key. Rose seemed to be a bit stressed to him lately. He had done his best to comfort her by keeping her busy and holding her at night and only a little time and care he decided would make Rose better.

* * *

Once more Rose woke up after sweet dreams to find the Doctor nowhere to be found. She felt sick and ran to the bathroom and after losing what was left in her stomach she decided that she had to do some research if she wanted to improve her situation. She just hoped that the TARDIS would help her do it. She wanted to find out what had happened to her and she didn't want the Doctor to be the one to tell her as odd as it seemed. If she couldn't figure out on her own just who's child she was carrying then she would have to ask the Doctor anyway. It was more like she was stalling and just didn't want to admit it. She came out of the bathroom and on her nightstand was a glass of water and toast. She was not feeling too tempted by the food with her stomach in knots but she decided that she would need her strength. Saying thanks and happy that the TARDIS was on her side she downed the food and headed for the library. Perhaps the TARDIS would lead her to some literature that would help her decide on her next move. She better hurry though, she was starting to feel sick again.

* * *

Jack was walking down one of the many halls of the library to reach the pool. He had on a Speedo but that was more for the Doctor's sake when he was crossing the console room earlier. He had every intention to skinny dip once he got there. He was contemplating eventually drafting Rose for a cannonball contest, when he heard the unmistakable sound of retching. He rounded the corner and saw rose losing her lunch into a sink that he did not remember being there before. Rose turned at the sound of his footsteps and looked like a scared rabbit about to bolt.

"Jack." said Rose in a frightened but sickly voice. She did not look drunk to Jack and he had seen quite a lot of projectile vomit in his time, just sick and very very frightened.

"Rose what's wrong? I'll get the Doctor to." Announced Jack scared for Rose.

"No!" Cried out Rose petrified as she wiped her mouth with a damp rag and ran out to him.

"What, why not? You need a doctor, well a doctor but the Doctor will due." Declared Jack in confusion.

"You can't tell him!" Said Rose in a startled and pleading voice.

"Why not?" Jack asked confused. Wouldn't Rose want the Doctor's help if she were sick?

Rose looked down at the ground as she held on to a book case for support. She had been found out and now had no choice but to tell him.

"Jack, I'm pregnant." She whispered not making eye contact. Jack's eyes widened and he cracked a huge smile. He was very excited for Rose and what her statement implied.

"What? You've been holding out on me! I'm hurt Rose, I thought you'd tell me once you finally conquered the Doctor. Or did the Doctor seduce you? Whatever happened to telling your girlfriends everything?" Jack said faking hurt and jovial at the news. He didn't know how it was possible, he thought that Time Lords and humans weren't compatible, well the Doctor had told him so anyway. Perhaps the Time Lord had been feeding him false information. Regardless it was fantastic news. Maybe he should get some liquored up chocolate cigars to congratulate the Doctor with. His ideas for partying were interrupted when he heard Rose pipe up her voice to catch his attention.

"Jack, please." Said Rose in a desperate voice and Jack shut up and got quite serious. He realized that this situation was no laughing matter. He then put his arms on Rose's shoulders as a gesture of his emotional support. Rose was upset and he listened.

"You don't understand. I… I don't know who the father is, for sure... I know who I want it to be, but I don't know how …I haven't been with John… The Doctor since he was human and that was months ago. There has been no one else. I'm… I'm scared Jack. I don't know how this happened. I've been celibate for almost, maybe half a year. Who did this to me?" Asked Rose to the universe. She then slumped to the floor, but Jack cushioned her on the way down and embraced her.

"Its okay, Rose. It will be ok." Comforted Jack as he stroked the top of Rose's head in a brotherly fashion.

"I don't know what to do! I'm too afraid to tell the Doctor. What… what if he thinks that I was unfaithful to him at some point? It's been so great with us, but we haven't well done things again yet." Confessed Rose. She and the Doctor were now sharing quarters and although the Doctor still vainly held onto the fact that he did not require all the sleep a human did, he could cuddle with her most nights and he seemed to have no problem with her kissing him. Every time he would act surprised as if kissing never came to his mind but he would not protest. He never would initiate, it was as if he were too shy to do so and Rose thought it was sweet. Basically they were doing a lot of snogging but nothing else. Needless to say their relationship had issues to work out and was quite fragile. And now fate was throwing a child into the mix? A child that she didn't even know how it got there. She didn't want to admit it. She wanted to have faith in the Doctor, but there was so much about him that she didn't know any more and wither she could face that doubt or not that was in the back of her head she just worried that this would be too much for him and he might back out of their relationship completely.

"Okay Rose, relax. I'm gonna tell you what we aren't going to do, panic. I may not be a superior time lord but I am a 51 century man and the TARDIS' favorite." Declared Jack, the lights then dimmed as if to scold him for his confident cheek. Jack continued,

"I can use his med bay equipment and we can run a blood test and find out who is the father species. That way we can piece together what happened and move on from there. But I need you to cooperate and remain calm. Can you do that for me?"

Rose nodded and they made their way to the med bay. She had been to the med bay months ago after her abduction and the TARDIS had said nothing then about her condition and that was what scared her. She thought the TARDIS would have told them. Rose felt a warm wave in her mind of comfort from the TARDIS and prayed that the TARDIS had just been holding back information until now. Maybe the time ship had thought that they weren't ready then to know about Rose's state. Still she didn't think it was fair to keep such news from her regardless of the Doctor's response.

* * *

Rose and Jack had managed to make it to the med bay undetected, Rose could sense from the TARDIS that the Doctor was being kept away from them and she let out a sigh of relief. Jack helped Rose onto the treatment bed and after setting up a few tests on the computer, Jack then collected a blood sample from Rose and did a bio scan. This time the TARDIS had not clowned around and it a matter of minutes they had all their information from Rose's blood scans.

"Okay Rose, sit tight. I'm going over the data now." Said Jack in an assuring voice. Rose raised an eyebrow and propped herself up with her elbows off the med bay bed.

"How are you even reading anything? Whenever I look at any screen in the med bay it's always those swirly lines." Asked Rose amazed at Jack. Jack told Rose that the TARDIS could let him read anything if she wanted him to. Most likely she was trying to help them he explained. Rose sat back down and with knots in her stomach she waited and watched Jack's face for any signs be they good or bad.

"Well you are indeed pregnant but we gathered that already, and at a glance the genetic material seems to be none of the usual suspects when Earth women get abducted," Joked Jack trying to keep her relaxed and the mood light as he read the results. Rose somewhat appreciated him trying to keep things light but she knew that they had a knife over their heads anyway. Getting even more serious Jack then identified and isolated Rose's genetic markers from the data collected from growing the fetus and began to isolate the paternal donor's markers.

"Well I know the genetic patterns of about a few hundred species. It was a required course in high school. Got a B– by the way…" Declared Jack nervously and obviously stalling a bit, he then dropped the bomb,

"But I've never seen genetic material like this before." Rose's heart sank, then it most likely wasn't human and not John's. She was devastated but they had to keep going even though she now knew that as she suspected, she had been violated probably in her sleep by some unknown assailant. Jack saw the look on her face and could feel her worry as an understatement. He wanted to stop because all he was doing was causing Rose pain but they had to know.

"Now hold on, I'm going to run the sample from the fetus' genetic material against the TARDIS' data banks, she can find it out the species for us and at least we'll know what to expect from here. She can even create an image of a physical copy person from their DNA alone. We will know who it is without a doubt and we can see if we can't bring this as evidence in a court case later if it's possible." Said Jack trying to give Rose a sense that some form of justice would be done for her. A few painfully long seconds later and a matching result came up. Jack stared at the results then did a double take, and then another. Rose could not see the result on the screen from where she was sitting but she saw Jack's face beam. This left her rather confused as he looked up and smiled at her. She smiled nervously back, what else was there to do? Well more like she grimaced back.

"Fantastic! Oh, you have been holding out on me after all!" Grinned Jack as he ran over to Rose and hugged her in congratulations. Rose now very confused and somewhat irritated from being left in suspense demanded,

"Jack, for Pete's sake, just tell me! Who's or rather what's the father then?" Jack realizing that he had gotten so excited he forgot to provide context and smiled,

"Time Lord, Rose. Time Lord! Specifically the Doctor. Perfect genetic match. Your husband is in fact the father of your child!" Rose just stared at Jack dumbfounded. She could not believe it. How was this possible?

"But I, How is? You said that…But the Doctor and I never have had…You said we weren't compatible!" Sputtered Rose as a million and one thoughts went a million and one directions in her head. Jack took a step back and declared,

"I haven't the foggiest idea Rose how this is possible. Maybe Time Lords reproduced through cuddling. I don't know, but that settles one problem. It's the Doctor and Rose Tyler's baby! And that could never be a bad thing in my book! Fantastic, now hold tight. We're just going to check in on junior." Jack then ran back over to the med bay console and brought up what was basically a space age projector sonogram. After a scan that took a fraction of a second it was done. Painless. Rose was a bit surprised she had seen sonograms on television and had been told by some friends that the procedure, itself, were not always the greatest of experiences. She heard it described as all cold and sticky with something pocking into your gut. Jack now brought up on the console a 3D model of the growing child and additional information showed up as he scrolled through bio-medical data. Jack then began to convey them to Rose.

"Well, early stages yet… but wow already has quite an impressive neural system, you Time Lords are telepathic. Maybe it will be too. Lungs…might have respiratory bypass abilities later on. Good luck keeping up with them. Here is the odd part though, TARDIS places the time of conception on the date you said that you and John got busy." Said Jack with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, he wondered just what had Rose and the Doctor been holding out on him while he was the Autons' prisoner. This confused Rose as well, was John completely human when they had…these were questions that only one being could answer and still didn't know how she was going to ask. Jack's continuous implying looks at her would have had Rose flush pink, but Jack was still talking,

"Basic organs are forming…just one heart."

"Is that bad?" asked Rose confused by his tone and a little worried for her baby. Jack looked up at Rose and realized his tone might have been received as worried disappointment. He had just been surprised and now he had a little damage control to do. The baby having a singular heart was a very interesting fact to Jack as he knew that the distinguishing trait of a Time Lord was having two hearts. His only faint worry at all was wondering if it had any implications to the health of the child, but humans as he knew did just fine with only one and he didn't want to worry Rose over missing redundant organs. Not when there was still one good working one. He also knew that hybrids sometimes had genetic problems but he didn't see any noticeable signs of trouble. The Time Lord TNA, as the TARDIS was calling it, for the most part seemed to be taking the lead in being the dominant one and the DNA seemed just fine to let it be so. The child's genetic code he would have described as orderly chaos anyway. If any problems were to come up later in its genetic coding he'd need to take more than just a casual glance at it.

"No it's not bad, well I just guess, there is the difference. The Doctor has two hearts, as I'm sure you've noticed, and your baby only has one. But it's still very half Time Lord. I'm sure they'll make up for that in other ways. Having a single heart isn't bad. Do you want me to look up the sex?" Jack shot out and Rose was already overwhelmed.

"No, not yet Jack. There will be time for that later." Sighed out Rose. It was a relief and also scary. If she had to be pregnant then at least the baby was her husband's. But she had no idea how a child she must have conceived when the Doctor was John, was now half Time Lord. She had only been, in the traditional sense, with John. She was expecting if her husband was involved at all in the conception of a child to be a fully human child and John's. Well in a way it was still John's because John was the Doctor. But this left more questions than answers. She was going to have to talk to the Doctor about this. How? How was she going to do that? Still despite the uncertainty she was still very happy and relieved that she at least knew and loved her child's father. She felt like it gave her a legitimate right to be thrilled over the pregnancy, in spite of her fears. Rubbing her stomach she looked down at her abdomen and smiled,

"Hello, you are quite the surprise. I mean, really one heck of a surprise. But I love you all the same. And don't worry, we'll figure everything out before you get here. I promise." Rose then swore Jack to absolute secrecy and begged him to let her tell the Doctor the news. Jack agreed but advised that she tell him soon.

* * *

The TARDIS, ever since she and Jack had confirmed the mystery of her pregnancy, was certainly doing her part to be helpful. Rose couldn't help but feel the TARDIS was taking on the role of doting maternal figure of some kind. Every morning when she woke up and felt nauseated she would go to the bathroom, throw up a bit and after she was done cleaning up. Not only was there water to drink but a whole assortment of supplements and even what she considered a miracle anti-nausea medicine that usually lasted her until this time in the "morning" each day. Not once had she thrown up in front of the Doctor. She kept waiting for her luck to run out. Where once she might have enjoyed when the Doctor would cuddle up close to her when she was in bed at night, now she spent most of the time worried that he would sense or feel something was different about her body and call her out.

The other night she had actually relaxed and tried to bask in her upcoming motherhood while the Doctor held her in their bed. Well, he spent time in it with her so it was their bed technically. While she was lying there so comfy and safe with him she couldn't help herself and from time to time she would find herself pretending that the Doctor was still John, sort of a role play she guessed. She knew that John was the Doctor but sometimes she did miss some of John's behaviors that the Doctor did not do as often if at all anymore. She had done that for just a moment, thinking about how John might have reacted. Boy, did she ever wish that they had discussed children so she didn't have to rely as much on imagination. They had rushed in so fast that they had not talked about a few years down the road. Hell she was 20 when she married John, almost 21, who thought about kids at 21? It was a stupid oversight and they really should have thought to talk about that first before getting married. But John was always very here and now and so was she, she guessed when it came to their views on the world. It had been such a nice thing, her little moment, but then the Doctor had seemed to notice something in her countenance.

"Rose, are you...okay? Something about you seems different tonight." Asked the Doctor feeling a little silly for asking and confused. Rose had joked about her being just the same old her and he was one to talk and he had laughed back. She felt like such a guilty lying coward. After that Rose needed to just go to sleep and clear her mind. Anything more like that and she'd have a heart attack and she had a feeling that the Doctor could sense an accelerated heart rate. So she turned around to cuddle her head up under the Doctor's neck. That had always been a relaxing position for the two of them when they were both human and that seemed to continue to be true. Rose exhaled and finally went to sleep.

* * *

Rose had been trying to make her way to the kitchen that evening, but despite that desire, when she had opened the usual door to the hallway she now found herself in a different room. The room was a warm, beautiful, and inviting nursery with a calming color scheme that Rose did not know was reminiscent of the Doctor's now dead home planet. A blue bassinet in sat the middle of the room under soft light and as Rose approached she saw that it had a mobile with objects hanging off it that resembled the solar system. Next to it rested a cushioned rocking chair that reminded Rose of the very same one that had at one point been in her room as a baby. Several stuffed animals were about the room along with a combination of Earth-like and space-age looking toys. In the corner was a comfy four-poster bed, she was guessing would be for her if she was too tired to make it back to her own bed. And in a matching style was various furniture needed for a baby.

"Well, I see you've already been making plans around me." Stated Rose to the room with her hands on her hips. She thought that she felt a trailing off 'no' in her head. Rose then a little worried questioned,

"Does the Doctor know about this room?" She again felt as if she were being told 'no' and relaxed. The TARDIS was doing a lot for her and she knew it. Jack had warned Rose that Time Lords were a telepathic race and that there was a chance that the baby with such an impressive bit of neural hardware might be too.

* * *

Rose and the Doctor had been in the library today to collect the Doctor's copies of a few works of Hemingway, before setting out to get them signed in sunny Cuba. Rose had not read too many works of Ernest Hemingway, if any, but she was looking forward to the exotic location and she promised the Doctor that she would read "The Old man and the Sea" afterwards, since Mister Hemingway would not have written it yet. And insisting that it would be fun to do so in that order.

Jack on the other hand was all set and even had a vacation-looking shirt on and was dressed for a day of sampling the tropics. He wasn't so interested though in meeting Hemingway as he was in trying his luck in the bars. Jack wasn't in the library. He was impatiently waiting on the jump seat in the Console room for the married couple to appear with their books as he dangled his period appropriate Ray-Ban sunglasses between his fingers. He had kept Rose's secret but was impatient for her to tell him already. The Doctor deserved to know, and they both deserved to be happy with their starting family. Jack did not know what kept Rose quiet because he felt that the Doctor would be happy not to be the last of his kind. But Rose still insisted that the two of them needed to be closer first. Rose knew that the Doctor cared for her but love was another story. Every night that they lay in bed together and he wrapped his arms around her she still always noticed the absence of the band she had placed on his finger. At time she wondered what he had done with it, but that again was another thing that she was afraid to ask. She was so worried that her flighty Time Lord would feel trapped or weighed down by a baby. She needed to ask him about children and what he thought of them and she promised herself that she would do so soon. After all she knew that no matter how long she stalled, eventually the Doctor would find out on his own. She could only hide this secret until she finally started showing.

Rose was looking for the Doctor's copy of, "The Sun Also Rises," first edition, when she felt something. A firm connection. The baby had found its way into her conscious mind and at first she was startled, but that was washed out by a feeling of warmth, love and comfort. She knew right away that it was her child reaching out to her and she mentally put her arms out for it as best she could. Her happy feelings did not last long as her pleasant emotions were replaced by fear when she had noticed that whatever it was she had felt the Doctor might be feeling too. He was dusting off a book when he raised his head in confusion and looked about as a reflex. Was the baby establishing a link to its father too? Rose's mind wondered at high speed as adrenalin pumped through her. She didn't want the Doctor to find out this way! What would he think? Would he be upset? Would he know she kept this from him? Would feigning ignorance help or make him less mad if he was mad at her for not saying anything? Would he want the baby? She had wanted to tell him and for him to be happy, but the Doctor despised all things domestic and a baby was the very pinnacle of domestic. She longed to tell him but was scared senseless that he would give a negative reaction. For every best case scenario she could imagine, she could imagine just as many bad ones. This possible situation in its self was worst case thought Rose in a panic. But before anything could get more out of control she felt what could only be described as a warm tug and what sort of felt like something that was being broadcast was now centralized on her. The TARDIS had masked Rose and the baby's telepathic link. The Doctor blinked his eyes and looked at Rose and then felt stupid and sad. Whatever he had felt for an instant, it was one of the most wonderful feelings he had ever felt it a long time. But it had been so short a feeling that he was questioning if it had even been real. He must be cracking up from the death of his people. He was starting to sense imaginary Gallifreyans. He had tried to perk up his mood during their trip after that, but he was still sullen and even the warm Cuban sunlight, Rose's warm comforting hand, and freshly signed Hemingway books could not make him forget the empty void in his head where his people had once been.

* * *

"Rose, what if she kills me? Or poisons my tea?" Asked John nervously as Rose tugged him along up the several flights of stairs to her mother's flat. Rose was sympathetic but still rolled her eyes,

"She's not going to kill you and if she tries I won't let her. I'll even taste test your tea, don't worry. I will not be robbed of my wedding night." Stated Rose as they finally reached her mother's floor. At the mention of wedding night, John's face blushed and he took a deep breath. 'Now was not the time to be having fantasies about that when one is about to face the firing squad that is one's future mother-in-law.' John reflected and just the thought of Jackie and how she had propositioned him was enough to make him lose any thoughts of what he would be doing with Rose in 3 weeks time. They had filled out the paperwork a week ago and now all that was left was to show up on the appointed day and enter into wedded bliss. The timing was great because Rose and John would be able to enjoy a long weekend for their honeymoon as John couldn't up and leave during the semester. Rose didn't care for any big flashy wedding or expensive honeymoon. She just wanted a chance to after the ceremony to finish what they had started on that bed of theirs on the morning John had proposed. The tough part now was the invitations or rather extending one to Rose's mother. Rose wanted to invite a few friends too, but John didn't wish to invite anyone. Both his parents were dead and he'd rather not have Rose have to suffer any snide comments from unmannered people around campus until after the deed was done and he could properly 'address' anyone he caught harassing his wife. So for that sake he was keeping it a secret and not inviting any colleagues. As much as he liked his fellow professors he knew that information spread like a fire through their ranks and Rose agreed that she had no desire to be grilled by irritating staff bothering her with questions. Both John and Rose had laughed at the idea of the looks on the faces of their coworkers when they came back to work as Mister and Mrs. Doctor Smith.

They were now reaching the point of no return and John swallowed hard, there it was Jackie Tyler's Lair, where the cougar-ish man-eater lived. Rose pulled out her key and John held onto her hand and tired his best not to look scared and stand tall.

"Mum, we're here for a visit, noon right on time." Smiled Rose as she opened the door and pulled her fiancé in after her. Ten minutes later, once more, a loud voice could be heard through the walls on Jackie Tyler's floor.

"You've barely know him half a year and already he's roped you in! Move in with him and then quick as you please you're engaged to this man! This man here is old enough to be your father!" Screech Jackie to her daughter before turning her rage over to the diminishing figure that was John Smith. He'd rather grade 100 papers in one night then be where he was right now. But for Rose and her family's sake, which soon would be his family too, he would brave the mother bear until they reached an understanding.

"So making her pay the rent with her body wasn't enough? You need a bride to carry off too? I know that's what you're doing, she's got no money!" Growled Jackie at the poor man.

"What no! I am marrying your daughter because I love her. And on that matter Rose, did offered to pay rent but I don't need money. She pays rent every day in other ways. There is not a price I can put on the feeling she gives me first thing in the morning." Explained John to his future mother-in-law as he envisioned Rose smiling at him at their kitchen table in the morning. However, his declaration did not help his case as Jackie's mind went right away to interpreting what he said to mean something dirty and affirming what she suspected. And the last thing she wanted to hear is what she thought he was making her daughter do for him first thing in the morning. Rose however had had enough and stepped in between Jackie and her grateful fiancé.

"Mum I am not having relations with John in exchange for rent. He even says he doesn't want to have relations until were married." Explained Rose in a firm voice.

"That's what they all say!" Shouted Jackie in Doctor Smith's face and he just stood tall and very politely and patiently took the verbal abuse. He knew that this wasn't going to fly over well but Rose needed him to be strong for her and he wasn't going to let Jackie intimidate him into backing out of marrying the love of his life.

"Mum, please! I found the man that I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. Please just be happy for us. So he got here a little earlier than me, or maybe I got here a little late. The point is we found each other and we don't want to lose any more time together. We're getting married in three weeks and we would love you to be there. We have the same chapel reserved as you and Dad were married in. And that was John's idea after I mentioned it to him. Please don't shout." Begged Rose to her mother for sanity. Jackie looked at her daughter and for the first time she didn't see her little girl she saw a grown woman that would always be her little girl. A grown woman who was making her own decisions and when Jackie considered all the bad choices her daughter had made in the past. This really wasn't the worst. Sure he was older but at least he wasn't a punk, a lousy musician or loser.

They all sat down for tea and against her better judgment, Jackie had agreed to step aside and let Rose live her own life. After Jackie calmed down things got much more pleasant in the flat. And as a show of good faith, John did not use Rose as a taste tester for his tea. Rose sat close to John on the same couch not wanting to leave him feeling too unprotected just yet after the heated argument. Jackie finished her tea and then gave her new son-in-law-to-be a menacing glare.

"I'll be there on one condition, you." She said pointing at John and continued,

"If you ever break her heart, I'll whip you one so hard that you will never walk the same way again."

"Wouldn't have it any other way. If I could ever bring myself to hurt Rose, then I would deserve worse than that." Stated John as Rose hugged his arm. Later when they left the flat and made it safely back into John's car, Bessie, Rose took that instant to give John a rather border lining on snogging kiss. John was so love drunk from the kiss that he needed a moment to recover but then managed a questioning look.

"That was for being the bravest man in the world for me again today." She smiled a bit breathily. John blushed that he would do anything for Rose and didn't need a reward.

"But if you were to give me one, I wouldn't mind continuing that kiss later tonight at home." Smirked John as he rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip.

"Why Doctor Smith, how scandalous, what will other's think?" she joked. Well considering that Rose had been living with him for a bit now they probably already could think of many things.

"Who cares?" He smiled as they buckled themselves into their seats. Rose then leaned into John's ear to whisper something in regard to what her mother had said earlier, but for obvious reasons she couldn't have said anything then.

"Well, just so you know. When we are married, you can carry me off anywhere you'd like." She said as her warm breath tickled his ear and drove him a bit wild.

"I'll take you up on that Miss Tyler, but for the moment go easy on me, yeah? I still have to drive us home." Smirked John as he calmed himself down and started to drive them back to their home near campus.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Rose you can only put this off for so long, dear. Well, if the Doctor had not been such a jerk about domestics, maybe she would have said something sooner. Time Lord Men. Anyway what do you think? You wanted more adventures and this kind of is…


	51. Ch 51-The Talk that needs talking about

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**The Talk that needs talking about - Chapter 51**

The Doctor, Jack and Rose had run back into the TARDIS laughing. They could not believe that Jack had managed to trip up all the guards that had been watching them with just some dental floss and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs. They had slipped away after that and Hideki had led them back to the TARDIS that his mother and grandfather had hidden in their woodshed. It had been close though they could hear the sounds of angry guards running up and down the streets of Kyoto looking for them. But with no evidence that they had been there and disappearing without a trace probably meant that no harm would come of Hideki and his family. Rose recalled how the whole adventure had started.

* * *

"Well, look at you all beaming and smiles." Smirked Rose as the Doctor danced around the TARDIS setting in coordinates. This was as chipper as the Doctor had been in a few days, but his mood had improved last night and Rose was very happy for him to be this way, as him being in a good mood gave Rose more confidence to drop the bomb of information that had been sitting in her womb for almost a month and a half now.

Rose's confidence had stemmed from her activities with the Doctor in bed last night. They had not engaged in copulation, but it was damn well near it as far as they went. That step Rose had decided a while ago was up to the Doctor, but there were other things that she could try her luck with besides that. When Rose had gone to the bathroom that night to get ready for bed her usual jimjams had been replaced with something that was silken and a bit skimpier. They were still pajamas but a tank top and shorts. Rose didn't know if it was her hormones getting messed up, thanks to the current state she was in, but she felt that suddenly being on the prowl for her Time Lord didn't seem like such a difficult task. She was going to get to second base tonight or die trying. She didn't quite understand how it was, but the Doctor was the father of her unborn child. And Mummy wanted her baby Daddy and she was going to have him. This was her attitude, surprising even her, as she looked at herself in the mirror. However, no sooner did she step out into their bedroom and see the Doctor sitting there on their bed reading a book on theoretical physics and looking a bit sullen, she deflated. That was right. Her husband was not a human with human needs and wants. He was just as content to sit and read as he was for her to kiss him. Rose padded over to the bed and the Doctor looked up and smiled. She loved his smile but everything about him was often an enigma to her and it would be nice if every once in a while he'd give some faint hint that he might want her in that way at least to hope on.

"Ready to get in your eight hours?" Asked the Doctor as Rose slid in under the covers. He couldn't help but notice that she was dressed a bit differently from usual, but she was covered, so what was the big deal? He wasn't about to make comments on what she was wearing unless it pertained to aiding her in avoiding getting thrown in some jail for indecent exposure for a time period or planet. Rose nodded that she was ready for bed but then she felt another streak of boldness from the feel of his weight on the mattress.

"Doctor, do you think that you could get under the covers with me tonight? You can just slip out later, you won't wake me." Asked Rose of her husband. The Doctor put his book down on the nightstand and looked at her not knowing what to say next. It was different from how they usually did this, Rose was the one who got under the covers and he was the one that laid on top of them so not to disturb Rose when he left. Still it wasn't an unreasonable request. They were just covers. He nodded and lifted up the duvet to let himself in. At the sensation of the covers lifting up, Rose felt her heart skip a beat as muscle memory of times the Doctor as John had done this simple action time and time again. He did it the same way, one arm to pull it up and then skillfully slid in. He then let the duvet down and settled his head on one of the pillows.

"Better?" He joked to her as they stared at each other eye to eye. The Doctor shifted and using his arms as a pillow behind his head he got into a comfortable position that without him realizing it looked damn good to Rose. There he was just there in front of him no covers as a barrier. And that's when Rose realized that she had him in their bed, all the way in the bed, in spite of herself and her previous disheartening thoughts she felt an animal-like instinct take her over and with a breathy,

"Definitely." It was at that moment that the rational part of Rose's brain shut off and caution along with any behavior that she usually would fear could be viewed as too ape-ish was thrown to the wind. Later she would definitely have to blame it on hormones, but at the moment she did not care. Rose got on her knees and slid over to the Doctor before climbing on top of him and resting her rear end firmly on his stomach with the both of them still under the covers. Effectively pinning him to the spot, and looking at him with wolfish eyes. The Doctor looked rather surprised by the action but did not try to move and just stared back at Rose, wondering what she was doing and more importantly what was she going to do next? This was very different from any usual contact between them and certainly not the way a snog traditionally began. Her nerve still in tack Rose leaned in closer to him and ran her hands up and down his jumper covered chest, slightly cursing the wool fabric, before resting both hands just below his collar bone. She could feel his rapid double hearts beat which was alien but yet so inviting to her. Rose then exhaled and laid her chest flush against his and began kissing at his bottom lip.

"My Doctor." Rose breathed out between kisses as she applied more pressure against his lips and body. The Doctor huffed out Rose's name in surprise and tightened his hold around Rose. He was very much enjoying the pheromones and endorphins resulting in this experience with Rose. The kiss continued in this fashion until Rose had to unfortunately stop for air. She was finding herself very winded and that was when she remembered that her body's normal functions and energy levels were being water down to accommodate two lives and hearts instead of one. And one of those hearts belonging to an alien hybrid probably didn't make the strains on her body any easier. She cursed her own physiology and realized that she needed her sleep. Laying one more teasing kiss on the Doctor's lips she rolled off of him. She could have sworn she had heard the Doctor whimper a bit at the ending of the intimate contact, but she was too tired to give it much thought and cuddled into his side. She fell asleep very soon afterwards.

The Doctor, now having calmed down after the experience that he had just shared with Rose, stared at Rose's sleeping form in astonishment. Naively he had not seen that coming, and definitely not at such an unbridled level. Perhaps he should have since Rose was dressed so differently for bed he thought as he stared off at the room she had emerged from. He then looked back at his book and wondered how he could have been more interested in looking at the dusty old thing over her when she had just come out of that joining room. What they had just done had not been unpleasant at all and he was actually expecting that Rose was going to try to take this further but she had stopped. Which was probably a good thing since he didn't know what would have happened next? Was Rose trying to tease him or was she just being overly cautious about how far he had wanted to go with this? Either way he didn't think that lying under the covers from now on would be such a bad thing. In fact he would tell anyone that asked that being under the covers in a bed was much better than being on top of them. This was probably one of the most pleasant co-sleeping experiences he had had yet, well unless he counted John's memories. Which some part of his brain reminded him, he shook the memory only a little and looked down again at Rose. He watched her sleep curled up next to him looking so sleepily content where she was with him, the ugly, old, and war damaged, git Time lord. It defied logic, her feelings for him, and the fact that they transcended the death of his human persona. At times he couldn't believe his developing…oh hell already well developed feelings for her either. He knew that nothing that came out of this relationship could be lasting, be it her deciding to leave for whatever reason or her death that would come soon enough, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to be close to this human for as long as he could and the more time he spent with her the more he was seeing that that desire was unavoidable. He was the loneliest thing in the universe but he could forget that as long as Rose was with him. He let out an exasperated sigh at his own mixed emotions and gently placed a kiss on Rose's forehead. It was then that the Doctor realized that that had been the first kiss he had ever initiated with Rose. He didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that she had not been awake to feel it, but he snuggled Rose closer to him and closed his eyes. Maybe just a few more minutes of staying with her like this wasn't too out of his way.

* * *

"Why Doctor Smith, I believe that is in appropriate conduct between university employees. I might just have to make a report to human resources." Snickered Rose as she playfully swatted her fiancé's hand off the small of her back. It had also been very close to being a bit lower than that. John laughed and whispered in her ear,

"You're one to talk. I've caught you doing worse to me in my office. Like that time you came for a surprise visit last week when I had only a half hour before my next class." Rose blushed at the accusation said in such a tone and declared that she had only grabbed his rear end once in his office and anything else had been just normal snogging.

"Scandalous." Stated John in a voice trying his best to mimic the voice of one of John's coworkers, Rachael, who they had overheard talking about them when they had come out of his office a little disheveled after their lunch break a week ago. The two of them were getting rather impatient for their wedding night, but John was remaining strong to his convictions of waiting until they were married. He was also respectful as they could be about the professional environment that they were working in. It never went beyond tamed snogging and any shenanigans in his office were done behind a locked door. John had actually been approached by his department head about it, but not to be reprimanded. He had come to tell John that Rachael had tried to rat John out for coming out of his own office looking ruffled with his not a student or assistant girlfriend. The department head had told her to mind her own business and that he and his own wife sometimes came out ruffled from his office if the two had been away from each other long enough. Afterwards Rachael had shut up and dropped the subject. The two had had a laugh and that was it.

John was removed from his thoughts as he noted that they were now approaching the university shop which he loved and hated. He loved it because that was where he could find Rose, but hated it because it stole Rose away from him for hours on end. The cruel building was a paradox. John took Rose's hand and led her through the doors before laying a tender kiss on her lips and promising to see her later. Rose smiled,

"Not if I see you first." John then left for his tonight's lecture in the lab. Rose let out a sigh and went to the back of the store to help with stock. Just one more week and they would be married she thought.

"You know, Rose. You could probably land that man easily if you put out a bit more." Snickered one of her coworkers. Rose just laughed back. If they only knew that they were already engaged and she had not had to put out anything to get a proposal. It was kind of fun having a secret engagement, it felt like a love novel of old. Sometimes she was tempted to tell but she figured that the surprise of an engagement announcement couldn't top the surprised look from people a week from now when you told them that you were already married.

* * *

Rose had woken up that morning to find that the Doctor was still holding her. At least she was pretty sure he was. The moment that she had felt herself coming around to the waking world, about eight and 15 minutes later from when she nodded off in the first place, she felt the bed shift gently and someone rise from the bed. This was followed by soft footsteps and the door gently closing. He had stayed the whole night! That thrilled her but then terrified her. She was now alone and the moment she had gotten up she was sick to her stomach, 'Not good, that was too close.' These were her thoughts as she ran for the toilet. When she was done being sick she knew without a doubt that she had to tell him today.

It was great having Jack to confide in but that only did so much for her. She had thought about either calling or just telling her mother in person. But there was no way that Rose could tell her mother that in person without Jackie tearing up her Time Lord husband even though they were already technically married. She was more worried that Jackie would never keep it a secret if she told her Mum. If that happened then she would never be able to go back to her Mum until she first told the Doctor. So no asking mum for advice on this one. She would have to face the music like a big girl. Cautiously she had approached the subject from the side and hoped that if she led the conversation one way then it could lead to another. One thing that she really wanted to ask was if John had wanted children and maybe the Doctor could answer. And if she liked the answer then maybe it would give her the confidence to discuss the matter further.

* * *

"Doctor, you have all of your memories as John, yeah? So if I asked you a question about him you could answer it?" Asked Rose as she fingered the strings on her hoodie nervously. She had thought about wearing something a bit more fetching to help aid in keeping the Doctor in a good mood but in the end she had favored comfort in jeans over flare in a skirt. Shifting from side to side in her sneakers she waited for the Doctor to respond.

"What's this all of a sudden, Rose? What do you want to know?" Questioned the Doctor wondering where this was going.

"Well, it's just lately I realized that there were a few things that we never discussed when you were human and I kind of wanted to know the answers… If you could tell me." The Doctor was now very worried. He supposed that it should only be natural that she should have unanswered questions. He never really gave her that many answers, after all. But somehow it felt like a step back to him. Was he doing so little to fulfill her needs for companionship that she wanted to use him to reminisce about his human form? He didn't know if he should feel bad for her or himself. He thought that she had come to accept him as the Doctor. Or was that it at all? Maybe her trusting their relationship enough to ask these questions was really a step forward. She had been so reluctant to rock the boat with him on any subject lately. He didn't know why she was so scared, he didn't have any plans to dump her off anytime soon. If he were honest with himself he didn't really want to think of the time that she would leave as all his companions had to do for one reason or another. He still wanted Rose around for as long as they could though.

"What's the subject?" Asked the Doctor as he appeared to be doing something that looked rather complicated. He didn't really know how to feel. On one hand he felt awkward thinking back to his time as a human. On the other he felt jealous like as if he were competing with his human self for Rose. And if he had a third hand, he felt understanding but at the same time insecure over how well he was doing as Rose's for lack of a better word 'boyfriend'. Did he feel that if she was looking back, was he not doing a good enough job keeping her looking forward to her time with him? Was he jealous of John? Was he intimidated by the memories of John Smith and the fear that he couldn't live up to them even as an impressive Time Lord? Was that why he was avoiding talk of domestics so much? Or was he just over thinking things. He was being stupid he thought and reminded himself again that Rose had been thrown into her situation suddenly and with little explanation. It was just a few questions, perfectly reasonable.

"Domestics mostly. Just curiosity on a few things, but I'll understand completely if you don't want to talk. I know how much you hate domestics. It's just for me it was weird at first, after you changed, but now I feel a lot more comfortable asking you." Replied Rose trying to be as nonthreatening as possible to her domestics skittish Time Lord. The Doctor indeed felt uncomfortable about talking about domestics, but he had agreed with himself to try and meet Rose half way and be more accommodating to the human things that mattered to her. Besides he was in such a good mood for their destination to come that he doubted a few domestic questions about his life as a human could pull him down. He probably was even in a happy enough mood that he could handle a request later to go back to get milk on Earth for the TARDIS fridge. The Doctor looked at her expectantly and Rose took a deep breath. And he was surprised by her first question.

"Well one thing I'd like to know that I'm confused about is, were you fully human when you were John?" She asked hesitantly. It seemed that she was curious about his anatomical properties as a human and it seemed an odd start but at least biology was a topic he was more comfortable with and didn't seem too domestic to start with. He hoped that they didn't get more domestic than that. Pulling some levers and deciding to take the conversation at face value, as recapping and comparing notes, he answered,

"Completely, indistinguishable from any other human. Nothing special to grab attention." The Doctor then continued at a fairly tricky part of operating the console giving Rose half his attention. Compared to his Time Lord self, the Doctor thought John was nothing too special though Rose would have liked to argue that. Both men, the man he was and the man he is now, were of equal importance and both dear to her heart. Just in different, but at the same time, in similar ways. Boy it didn't get any easier being the Doctor's wife. She decided it was now or never and went on to change the subject and nonchalantly asked,

"It's just we never talked about a few things that might have come up down the road later on like about planning a fam…" It was then that the TARDIS lurched to a stop and Rose wobbly fell back into the Jump seat. It was a little rough but nothing Rose thought would cause damage to herself or her passenger. Rose shook her head and getting her wits about her made to continue her conversation with the Doctor but his attention was already in another place. The Doctor shouted in excitement that they had arrived. Rose wanted to get back on subject and clear her conscience of the secret she was keeping from the father of her child, but she knew that besides flat out shouting it out, she wasn't going to get him to listen to her once he got as energetic as this about a destination. And just shouting out that he was the father of her child was not the way she wanted to place this information on him and was far too dramatic or cliché soap operaish for her. She would have to wait for him to calm down. She let out an exasperated sigh and wondered if the universe was conspiring against her or something.

* * *

The commotion had also summoned Jack to the console room and before the two humans knew what was happening, they were being shuffled out of the TARDIS and into a twilight evening in a small wooded area in what appeared to be an ancient looking Asian city of some kind. Rose saw lovely flowering trees that were bathed in moonlight and heard the sounds of crickets and lazy night quiet suburban noises in the nearby distances. Oil lamp lights could be seen off in the distances as well and besides that the only other light source from the moon was the warm orange glow of the TARDIS' outside lights. And as if it were not picturesque enough the sounds of a small river or stream could be heard in the distance. Rose felt a sense of relaxation cover her in the apparently early summer atmosphere and let out a calm breath. Perhaps this would be a good place to talk, sure Jack was there but he already knew and was good at disappearing when he knew he wasn't needed at the moment.

The Doctor was equally as relaxed but paradoxically excited. He had planned to come a bit earlier in the day but they could always either wait for morning the traditional way or cheat. It was a weeklong party he was bringing them to after all. He wondered if they were in the historical district. Historians in this time had gone to reproduce every detail of ancient Earth life regardless of the civilization. Happy that he seemed to be in the right place for once the Doctor proudly announced,

"Japan, Tokyo. 2136. Just wait until you see the party I have in store for you!" The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled out his Sonic to light the way to the nearest street, but Rose pulled back.

"Actually Doctor we really need to talk about our…" Rose started once again but as if the universe was actually against her they heard the sound of a child screaming for help and the sound of a few angry men. The group looked at each other in horror and ran for the direction of the sounds of the distressed child as fast as they could.

When they had gone down the dirt road a ways the time travelers came to an ornate wooden bridge and saw before them the sight of a dirty looking and roughed up child being restrained by three men. One of which had a knife! The three men were short by comparison to the time travelers and dressed in what Rose thought at first were bathrobes but then realized that they were Japanese style clothing and the men wearing them were in fact Japanese. The child, also Japanese, had clearly been struggling for a bit against his stronger capturers and having lost their patience with him had opted for more extreme measures. And if it was not clear enough what they were about to do on this seemingly lonely and disserted path, a thatch sack with Rocks tied to it was at the men's feet.

"Oi, What do you think you're doing that that kid?!" Shouted Rose at the men in shock, this had gotten the men's attention over even the fairly loud sound of the running water under the nearby bridge. Now, very nervous, they turned their paper lantern to the direction of the woman's voice. It was darker but they could clearly see three extremely tall people dressed in strange costumes, perhaps on stilts, and in wigs. For a moment they all wondered if a troupe of traveling street performers of some kind had stumbled upon them. Seeing that the situation was escalating the men realized that they were going to have to dispatch the bystanders too. One of them lunged at Rose but before they could even move a step closer the Doctor had sprung upon him and rushing at him, socked the attacking man hard in the gut. This knocked the wind out of the attacker and he toppled over on to the ground.

"You bastard!" Shouted the man with the knife, but the Doctor was already on him as well. Using moves that resembled some form of Aikido the Doctor threw the man over his shoulder while holding onto the hand that still held the knife. The man landed hard on the ground on his back and the now knifeless man was gasping for air in the dirt having had the wind also knocked clear out of him.

"Ugh 1336, not 2136. Still, close enough." Grumbled the Doctor at his mistake and tossed the knife into the river next to him, he then looked down at his would be attacker.

"Don't feel so bad, mate. I was O Sensei's star pupil, even gave him a few helpful pointers too." Smirked the Time Lord at the confused and gasping man. The Doctor mused at old memories of having tested his Venusian Aikido against the Earth version's greatest master. The man on the ground the Doctor felt should consider himself lucky to get such an amazing sneak peek at a martial arts form that's own founder wouldn't be born until 1883.

Jack not wanting to miss out on the fun engaged the man holding the child. That man then threw the child at the Doctor hoping that it would provide enough of a distraction for the cowardly man to get away as he was clearly out classed in size and fighting skill. The man's plan did just that. As the Doctor caught the screaming child from the air the very weight of him put the Doctor off balance enough that both he and the child fell into the darkened moving water below.

"Doctor!" Shouted Rose and Jack in unison as they thought they saw the current pull him and the child under the bridge. They then rushed to help him. The cowardly man took his chance and abandoning his fallen comrades ran away into the night.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Sorry it took me so long guys, but reading the script for Bad Wolf made me realize that I had another opportunity to tell a new story. I only had two problems. I needed to think of a new interesting plot on practically on the spot. And two, I knew nothing about 1336 Japan and needed to do some historical research so I wouldn't be as likely to write some cliché feudal Japanese fanfic that would insult any readers I have of Japanese ancestry with my ignorance. So I decided on a little thing domestic enough to be just outside of any major historical events and epic enough that it would not bore you. Even as I write this I hope I can make good on that idea. Wish me luck, I'm taking a page from the Doctor's book and making it up as I go….but I usually do it so well. Also Aikido is a form of self defense originated in Japan and founded by a man called Morihei Ueshiba, whose students called him O Sensei.


	52. Ch52- Water under the Bridge and Roofers

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 52 – Water under the Bridge and Roofers  
**

Seeing the Doctor and the child slip under the bridge Jack and Rose ran to the other side to try and spot them but much to their dismay they did not see anyone. They now worried that the Doctor and the child had been pulled under the current and could be far away passed the bridge in the darkened waters. That was at least until they heard a knock on one of the wooden planks beneath their feet.

"Oi, mind helping a bloke? The sonic doesn't work on wood." Said the wet sounding voice of the Doctor below them. Relieved Jack and Rose helped pull up a few boards and the Doctor passed up the wet and shivering child before climbing out himself. Looking back at the path they had come they noticed that the men they had just encountered were gone. They must have come around while the time travelers were helping the Doctor and made their exit. Jack cursed. He would have liked to have brought them to some form of local justice for trying to drown a child like a sack of cats in the river. Jack pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and shined some much needed light on the subject. Now being able to properly see the child Rose took off the hoodie Jacket that she was wearing and used it to towel off the poor boy. It was a warm night but she didn't want him just sitting in wet clothing.

"It's okay, love. You're safe with us." Said Rose in a calming voice that seemed to relax the child but he was still upset and coughing a bit from being in the water. Once his wet hair had been dried and removed from his face the boy looked up into Rose's face and just stared at her and did not say a word. He had never in his life ever seen a person like Rose. Who would have ever thought that people could have yellow hair? He'd seen an albino once in a traveling show but this woman had yellow hair and light brown eyes. To see such a person once in a lifetime would be a feat and here in front of him in the dark in strange clothing, with strange features, magic lantern lights and everything strange about them were three people he could only assume were either some kind of foreigners or most likely demons. But foreigners couldn't speak Japanese from what he had heard so the evidence against them being demons was stacking up. The boy continued to stare at his saviors and remained mute in their company. What were they going to do with him? He had grown up hearing stories of what happened to children caught outside alone after dark. Was he going to get eaten by demons?

The Doctor, also still wet, shook off his jacket and hung it over the wooden guard railing of the bridge. He then turned his attention to the little boy who upon getting a good look at the Doctor's face by flashlight began to cry loudly. 'The Nose!' Thought the boy. That confirmed it, they were demons and they were saving him for themselves!

"Please don't take me away and eat me, Mister Tengu!" Sobbed the little boy. The Doctor knew this term, under different circumstances he might have found himself insulted. It was a big nose demon that flew around snatching up children and usually lived in the mountains. This area was surrounded by mountains. And pulling from his memory of ancient Japan, a few of the towers off in the dark distance looked familiar. He was starting to suspect that they weren't in Tokyo at all, it was most likely Kyoto. The Doctor in his mind thought very much that he was some form of demon after all the horrible things he had done, but he was not the sort of demon the boy thought that he was. And he certainly was not about to bring any harm to this child.

The Doctor got down on to the boys level, looked the sobbing boy in eyes and then placed a comforting hand on his little head. He couldn't be any older than six or seven years old. The Doctor just sighed. They would be considered quite the novelty to this boy and probably the population in general since the first European explorers would not arrive in Japan in droves for at least another 200 years.

"Cheer up lad. We're not demons. I promise nothing bad is going to happen to you. We are just here to help you. In fact we're new around here so if you remember the way back. We'll take you home. It's about past your bedtime I'll wager." Smiled the Doctor putting on all of his charm for the little child. The little boy looked skeptical. Of course they wouldn't say that they were demons, they didn't want to upset him anymore then he already was. And even though these demons seemed friendly, it would be bad luck to bring demons home with him, right? But then again demons did not always bring bad luck sometimes they would help people they favored. They did seem to favor him and appeared nice enough. There was no reason for them to do so if they were just going to eat him and already had him surrounded. They had saved him from being drowned in the river that was also in their favor that they were benign demons. He shuttered when thinking that those men, who would have been his murderers, might even still be out there and right now waiting to kill him. He'd feel safer with hospitable demons if it meant risking meeting those men again. The boy nodded and couldn't help but return the cheerful grin that the Doctor was giving him.

"Now no more tears, hmm? I'm the Doctor. This woman here is Rose and that man with the torch is Jack. What's your name?" Asked the Doctor continuing to share an infectious grin with the child.

"Hideki. Hideki, son of the roofer, Haro. My father's name is really well known around here maybe you heard of his work? " Said the boy proudly. The Doctor had to admit that he did not know of his father but that he sounded very important. The boy smiled but that changed as soon as he asked Hideki if he could explain how he had found himself in the situation he had been in with those three men? The boy began to whimper again and said that he could not remember, the last thing he had recalled was being home and then suddenly he was here. The Doctor not being able to stand seeing the child crying put his arms around the small boy and gave him a firm hug which the boy found himself warmly returning. If he was a demon then he was a nice one and the boy no longer found himself frightened by the strange nosed man. Demon's liked to mess with people after all. Maybe thwarting his capturers' plans was a way to bother them and to his advantage.

Rose watched as the Doctor who could be so cold at times to strangers was melting the heart of this frightened child. He was being sweet and kind and Rose loved every minute of it. She began to wonder if he would be like this with their child too when it came along. The more she watched the easier she could picture how good a father he would be to their child and she loved him all the more. They had to handle this now but later and tonight if she could help it she was going to tell him come hell or high water. And since they already had the water part she hoped that they wouldn't be catching too much hell. The Doctor then took the little boy by the hand and the group proceeded to walk back the populated city much to the boy's delight. They were taking him home to his family.

* * *

"Hey Doc, if this is Ancient Japan are we going to get a warm welcome?" Asked Jack vaguely remembering that at some point in Japanese history they used to kill foreigners to the country that washed up on its shores.

"Oh true, they won't know what to make of us for the most part. The first western looking foreigners won't really be showing up until about 1543, Portuguese. There were a few people visiting now and again but usually with people already established as proper to trade with. And sorry about the mix up but this could be exciting, Kyoto, 1336. Not 2136, but still a nice town, good food and sightseeing. Still best be out of here before Ashikaga Takauji come into town and takes over. That's when the Emperor loses control again and Kyoto is taken over. So quick look around maybe, get a spot of tea, stay a night then back to the TARDIS." Said the Doctor to his companions. Hideki had no idea what they were talking about. They talked so strangely, but to be honest between acting as their guide and staring at their hair and the strange demon lantern they were using, he didn't have much of his brain left to focus on what these demon grownups were talking about.

"Doctor Tengu, we have to go down this way." Said the boy tugging at the Doctor's strange leather haori robe he was wearing. It was then that he realized that like himself the Doctor Tengu was also pretty much soaked to the bone. Now that he was away from those he felt were a danger to him he felt his confidence growing. As the man of the house he shouldn't be acting like a scared little child and a proper man would offer them a place to stay for the night, even though he wasn't sure if demons needed a place to stay he should at least be polite and offer. They probably wouldn't object to at least some decent food and maybe clothing to wear. Perhaps his mother would lend Rose something appropriate to wear once he told her what these friendly demons had done for him. It probably would be small on Rose but she would at least look as respectable as she seemed to be.

It was so late now and the only thing lighting the street was the odd public oil lamp here and there. They could see Hideki's home at the end of the street next to what appeared to be a small park. It was a decent sized home for an artisan family. Hideki's family had been well known roofers and trainers of good roofers for generations now and the home they enjoyed was the result of years of satisfied customers. His great grandfather had built the house and they had been given a sizable bit of land to build it on as a reward for a past favor. It was not a samurai's home by any stretch of the imagination but it had more rooms than the average home in their class would and a courtyard garden with a little pond for koi. They even hired out two servants to help his mother with the kitchen and grounds.

* * *

Hideki was indeed technically the man of the house but for now it was under the stewardship of his uncle. Although he was years from being a trained master, he had every confidence that he would follow in his poor dead father's footsteps and, under his grandfather's teachings, be a great roofer too and lead the business to further success. His father had been dead for a year now having unfortunately slipped and fallen off the roof of a house he was working on. It was tragic but his family business had gained respect from the locals for completing the project in time despite the death of the business' owner. His grandfather, also a roofer, was his mother's father and he and his Haro's students had finished the roof and were keeping the business alive until Hideki was old enough to take over.

* * *

Stopping at the front wooden gate, Hideki tried to reach for a wooden hammer on a rope but unfortunately was still a bit too short to reach it. Jack in showing sympathy for the boy reached up and grabbed it. The boy gestured for him to whack the hammer at an oddly shaped wooden plank also hanging next to it. Jack did as he was told and the wood made a surprisingly loud distinct sound when it was just tapped on a little. A minute later there was some shuffling on the other side and the door gate started slowly opening.

"It's a door bell!" Laughed Jack as he realized the function of the contraption. It was a distinct way to tell people behind the locked door that they had guests to attend to. Hideki said that his father had made it and most thought it was quite a smart and charmingly crafted convenience. A sleepy voice peered out the door and asked,

"Who is it at such a late hour?" Hideki laughed and answered,

"The Master of the house, Kogi, look lively we have guests." Kogi was an older gentleman servant who served as the grounds keeper and gardener of their humble home. A bit out of sorts and surprised to find his young master outside the home at such an hour he opened the gate the rest of the way.

"Really young master this is not right to play jokes like this your mother will be upset. What are you doing outside at this hour?" He said but upon setting his sights on his master's guests he flattered back,

"Heavens, what creatures have come upon this home, are you a kitsune in my master's form?!" Declared Kogi, sure that he had been tricked by some mischievous demon foe who knows what purpose. Sensing that there might be a problem the Doctor pulled out his now mostly dry, along with the rest of him, psychic paper and held it up for the older man.

"Relax my good man. You will give yourself a heart attack. This should explain everything." The old man drew his eyes to the paper and let out a sigh of relief, strange as they were these were foreign dignitaries and permitted travel by the emperor himself. Well that was all the credentials he needed and decided that them not being demons to clam up and let them through into the very small front garden. Hideki looked at the paper puzzled and saw that there was nothing on it and wondered if this was some demon trick again? Would he be the only one they would not fool? He kind of felt special being in on the joke while the adults were hoodwinked. Either way it worked and he had set out to offer his lifesavers all the hospitality he could.

"I know it is late but wake the house. I have a tale to tell the family and I need beds made for my guests." Rose, Jack and the Doctor were now very amused at the change they saw in their new friend now that he was back home. They found no end of entertainment in watching the little guy dictate around his home.

"We have a few extra rooms for sleeping, how many do you need?" Asked Hideki of his new friends. He kept having to look back at them and couldn't help but stare, they were so strange almost ugly but at the same time exotic. The Doctor Tengu he could tell was a demon to be respected. And Jack was also a force to be reckoned with, whatever demon he was. Rose on the other hand was the sweetest and most gentle demon he had ever met and he was sure the last. He felt a little silly asking about rooms as he was almost certain that they would be gone by morning, spirited away with the morning sun to who knows where, and what a trick he will have help played on the house. But he was going to extend them every courtesy.

"Two!" Piped up Jack,

"One for me and one for the couple." Hideki looked at the ugly Doctor demon and the lovely and young, in her own way, looking Rose. The Doctor must be a powerful demon to ally to. No doubt that was what Rose's demon father must have thought when he probably arranged the match. If demons arranged marriages that is. Man, he didn't know anything about how demons lived and wondered if he could ask the next Buddhist priest he met about it. Hideki looked to Rose for confirmation that he wasn't being teased and Rose putting her arm around the Doctor's smirked and nodded her head. Hideki ordered that two rooms looking at the garden be readied for his guests. While that was done, after removing their shoes, the group was lead into the house to what appeared to be a sitting room and made themselves comfortable. Ami the housemaid nearly fainted at the sight of the group when she had finally lit all the lanterns in the room. The hair and the eyes! What terrible monsters had befallen the house. However one look from her young master, whose look resembled that of his father's, silenced her. She would just have to sit quite and wait for her mistress and her father. She only wished that the boy's uncle was not away for the night. As she went to fetch her mistress and her father she peeked into Hideki's room just to be sure that she had not been duped by a kitsune. It was empty and she politely woke her mistress to tell her that her son had brought home late guests that were of the strangest features and that she must get up and see them. Sitting on cushions the Doctor, Rose, Jack and Hideki sat. The Doctor hoped that this wouldn't take too long as he wanted to get cleaned up. Eventually tea was brought out for them and not too long after that Hideki's mother and grandfather sleepily came into the room.

* * *

Hideki mother's was horrified by the tale that he told and ran to her son's side to hold him close and cried. She would have woken up this morning to find her only son missing and drowned if not for these odd strangers. And although they were suspicious looking characters, she could not help but thank them and bowed low to them in thanks. Hideki's grandfather did the same and vowed that he and Hideki's uncle, Basho, would put in a report to the police the next morning of the men and their descriptions with Hideki's help. Such a slight against any member of his family let alone the future heir of their roofing business could not go unpunished!

"I was not under the impression that we had enemies. Perhaps a rival artisan but I personally suspect no one." Pondered grandfather as he sipped his tea. Hideki's mother asked if there was any way that they could be repaid for saving her son, but Kogi poked his head in and told the room that the fresh clothing and beds were ready for them. And that he was warming up the bath for them. Apparently at one end of the house, separated from the main house, was the family's private bath house. Yet another luxury item added on by Hideki's paternal grandfather.

"Well I see my little 'Lord' has already beat me to it. He's such a take charge individual, just like his father was." Smiled Hideki's mother, Kiyomi. The Doctor loved the idea of finally getting out of his damp clothing and having a chance to sonic them clean and dry. Though he didn't need to take a bath just a little privacy to get the cleaning done. Hideki still being a child did not want to take a bath since he already was dunked today and in the guise of hospitality offered the bath to his guests first.

"We won't trespass on you long, I think we can be gone and on our way come morning." Smiled the Doctor and Hideki guessed that he was right about the story he'd have to tell about the disappearance in the morning. The Doctor seeing the trouble that he was already getting into looking so strange in this time period had opted, to leave before sunrise, but that didn't mean they couldn't relax for a little bit. None of them were tired since to Rose and Jack it was still morning. They would just have to make their way back to the TARDIS and use the psychic paper if they ran into trouble on the way. He didn't know how he had got the flight wrong. If he wanted to go to ancient Japan he would have tried later down the timeline just so that being foreign looking wasn't too much of an issue. He had learned his lesson the last time when he had thought to visit during what turned out to be the most extreme isolationist period of Japan.

Still a little nervous to have such strange people wandering about the house, Hideki's mother retired again for the night. Grandfather, now fully awake, however liked Jack's humor had taken a shine to him and demanded that sake be brought out so the two could better talk and get to know each other. The Doctor rolled his eyes at Jack who was already becoming fast friends with the old man and politely followed Kogi and Hideki to the guest rooms. Rose and the Doctor were shown their room and Kogi began to lead them to the bathing house. Hideki however, took this moment to escape back to his room on the other end of the house unwashed. He had enough of water for tonight. He would have to be quiet though as both his mother and grandfather's rooms were next to his and he didn't want to risk disturbing anyone, though he was sure his grandfather would be up most the night when the sake bottle came out. But before he left his new friends' company he said,

"Good night Doctor, see you tomorrow." He was certain that he would not see them again and was now too tired to care. He had had been through a lot this evening and wanted to sleep it off as he was certain the next day would be busy with police and his mother doting over him some more for not dying. The young master now gone, Kogi looked at the honored guest and opened the sliding wooden door to the bath.

"I too am going to retire for the evening, but I've put on enough wood for the water to be warm for a while, just don't take too long getting in. I have left you clothing in the bathing house. I hope that they fit you. They were the largest we had and might be still too small." Explained Kogi. The Doctor said that that was fine and Rose and the Doctor walked in and slid the door shut. A relaxing bath was just what Rose could use, the Doctor thought and he took a look around the room that was lit by oil lamps and a few candles.

* * *

The Bath was small but separated into two rooms with wood panel windows for air circulation. The first that they were in appeared to be a place to undress and towel off after. Also there appeared to be a few buckets filled with water for them to wash off with. Beyond another small sliding door led into the actual bath which they could see a little steam coming out of.

Rose's heart was pounding. Were they really going to take a bath together? On the one hand it thrilled her on the other hand terrified her. They had not done something like that together since the Doctor had changed. But also she wondered if she was obviously showing yet. She didn't think that she was but still what if he suspected. Well what if he did? She wanted to tell him and maybe this would be a good way to break the ice. Either he would notice and ask or she would just say it.

"Alone at last." Said the Doctor as he pulled off the leather coat and took out his sonic to clean himself and help dry his clothing. He waved off Rose showing that she could go ahead and bath while he worked. Rose realized that the Doctor had no plans to join her. Rose looked at the bath and then back at him, she really didn't know what to say. The Doctor saw her confused look and he looked as if he got the message. He then took his sonic and waved it over both buckets and then a bit longer at the large bathtub in the joining room.

"Yeah the water did look a little dirty didn't it? Well clean as your tap back on the TARDIS now, enjoy." Smiled the Doctor. That was when she realized that he wasn't deciding not to join her. The thought never even had crossed him mind at all. The alien was so used to sonicing everything clean that the idea of him engaging in conventional bathing had not even grazed his thoughts. If she wanted him to join then she would have to flat out ask and she wasn't sure if he was now ready for that. It was so frustrating that something she would not have thought twice about with John was so embarrassing a subject to talk about. What was she even being awkward about? He'd already seen her without clothes on after he had changed. When they were on that ship Bad Wolf 09 he had seen her with nothing on and had to provide her with his own jacket as coverings.

"You're not going first?" She asked. The Doctor just smiled and twirling his Sonic replied,

"Nope, just going to sonic clean." Rose tried to mask disappointment but then she got an idea. She realized that technically she couldn't make the Doctor do anything he didn't want to. But in the past he had done things for her that he didn't seem to want to do. Logically if he only did what he wanted to meant that if he did do something for her, he had wanted to do it. That being said, he did paradoxically do what she wanted from time to time. She just had to put up a convincing enough argument or play to his nature which after so long she knew quite well. She would try being sly and see where it got her.

"You mean that you are going to come to ancient Japan. Be a guest in a genuine ancient Japanese home and not go for the full authentic experience? I thought that you were a seasoned time traveler? What's the point of traveling in time if you don't experience life like the locals did?" Asked Rose sounding miffed. The Doctor saw her point but still didn't want to bother with bathing when a sonic was so much less involved.

"It's not really essential to my experience, Rose." Argued the Doctor, but Rose wouldn't have it, she was getting him in that tub.

"Aw, come on, Doctor. I'll scrub your back. And I give great massages, if you can recall." Tempted Rose. The Doctor was not unmoved by that suggestion. He would hate to admit it but just as a cat liked a good back rub, so did a Time Lord. He had been to every health spa in the universe and had had the finest treatment, but still the memory of getting a rub down from Rose as John was probably his most memorable experience with a massage. And he did still have a sore shoulder from climbing up the bridge with a squiggly child slung over his shoulder. He was going to just sonic that shoulder too but now…. Rose saw that his resolve was flattering and seized her chance.

"I'll turn around while you change into that linen over there." Promised Rose as she pointed to a pile of cloth meant to be used as towels. Rose pouted her lips and tried to look as appealingly cute as possible. The Doctor looked at Rose gorgeously bathed in candlelight and looked back at his hanging leather jacket on one of the several wooden hooks. He then looked back at Rose who was semi coquettishly watching him with an innocent smile, he rolled his eyes and then exhaled. Rose knew he was giving in and bit down a giggle of triumph.

"Fine, turn around. Like to keep a little mystery between us." Grumbled the Doctor. He might as well indulge Rose. It was just a bath after all. It wasn't like she was asking a lot of him. 'Well unless you went through a lot more changes than it looks. I'd say that there aren't too many left.' Rose thought to herself, not daring to say it out loud fearing that he would change his mind. Rose turned around and waited for the Doctor to finish undressing. She couldn't have known that the Doctor wasn't being prudish but simply embarrassed, even as an impressive Time Lord and always harping about that he was good looking, he actually thought he was just the opposite. He didn't know why he should worry about how he looked to Rose. Rose had clearly not had a problem with him when he was human, but that was human him. This act of bathing together was like peeling off yet more of himself literally and figurative for Rose to see and if she could ever get a glimpse of what he truly looked like inside and out, he was afraid that she would see him for the ugly horrible monster he really was and runaway.

* * *

Rose stared at the aging wooden wall and didn't even take a peek at the Doctor as he changed, though she was sorely tempted. The Doctor having seen that Rose was averting her gaze and that it was more than dark enough took off his jumper and set it to dry on one of the wooden pegs on the wall. He wore the same outfit like a suit of armor and taking it off especially in the presence of Rose felt like going into battle naked. Not that that was always a bad thing many ancient civilization's warriors battled nude for mobility and to keep from getting clothing into wounds to avoid infection. Anyway eventually his clothing was all hung to dry and he had an off-white linen wrapped around his hips. Rose turned around to look at him and the Doctor tried not to look as conscientious as he felt. At first she had been embarrassed and looked quickly to the wall to see his clothing hanging. His usual duds were drying along with his boxer briefs… Rose then looked him up and down, she couldn't help it. All that skin that she had not seen in over half a year and now there he was in front of her. Nights she had daydreams before falling off to sleep of just seeing him without a shirt on. It made her feel regret that she had in her short time of marriage to John must have taken being allowed to see him in all states of dress for granted. She would never do that again and she felt like she was being spoiled at this moment, finding her memory of his body had not deviated. Not knowing when she would get an opportunity like this again she put every visible inch of him to memory again. The Doctor could see what Rose was doing and putting his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow and trying to sound more confident then he felt declared,

"Keep looking at me like that and you'll burn a hole right through me." Rose blushed and look to the floor, had she offended him? The Doctor seeing Rose's reaction felt guilt at having humiliated her. He knew that Rose often didn't know how act around him because he didn't give her enough hints to follow. He hated that he made her so afraid of him in ways like that. The last thing he ever wanted to do was scare Rose. He was uncomfortable with domestics, sure but that didn't mean that he should force Rose to be walking on eggshells all the time. Wanting to at least put her at ease he sat down on a small stool and joked,

"Well my back's not going to scrub itself. Let's experience some authentic ancient Japanese lifestyle."

"Give me a minute, I don't want to get my clothes wet." Rose said in reply, her plan working so far and hoping it had a pleasant outcome. The Doctor got a little more nervous, how had he not thought that she would get undressed too? They were in a bathing house, what else was she going to do? Watch him soak? She was the one he planned would be taking a bath after all. The Doctor dared not turn his head as Rose disrobed and wrapped a towel around her body covering anything that might offend in public or make the Doctor nervous. Rose grabbed a rag and soaked it in one of the buckets while the Doctor handed Rose some soap. It was a team effort, Rose scrubbed and soaped the Doctor where he could not reach and the Doctor did the same where he was not as comfortable with help. After the Doctor was soaped up, Rose poured half the second bucket of water over the Doctor and grinned at the look of him once more with his cropped hair matted to his head. The water was a bit cold, but it was a very balmy evening, so she figured that it wouldn't be too unpleasant for her either. Rose then pushed the Doctor off the stool and sat down in his place.

"My turn." Smirked Rose and the Doctor raised an eyebrow yet again.

"Hmm, you scrub my back, I scrub yours. I see your plan all along." Joked the Doctor. Rose laughed too but that had not been her plan. Hers was more being in a state of undress in the same room with her husband and hoping that that fact would make him take the news she had to tell him better.

Ten minutes later Rose had been given the same treatment, though mostly through a towel, and was as clean as you could get with ancient Japanese soap. Rose then heard the buzz of the sonic and turned her head. The Doctor had soniced himself and his clothing clean and cheekily did the same to Rose.

"Oi, that's cheating. We still have to soak in the tub while the water is warm." Pouted Rose. The Doctor wanted to argue against bathing together, but her pout was too convincing to contest with.

"Alright, but towels stay on." Said the Doctor with a blush that the darkness of the room masked, which Rose agreed to a bit too quickly. She loved her husband and she wanted to be with him in whatever way she could get. Rose opened the door to the bath and surprisingly it wasn't too steamy. They must have taken a bit too long washing as Kogi had warned. Putting her hand in the water confirmed that it was starting to cool down quite a bit. Still one didn't want the water too hot on a night like this and besides she heard that really warm baths weren't good for pregnant women anyway. So it was the perfect temperature for an expectant mother. She doubted the Doctor would care since temperature in general never bothered him.

* * *

Rose now found herself in a deep tub of warm water big enough for two and alone with her Time Lord Husband surrounded by candlelight. This should be any happily married woman's dream but the Doctor just seemed so uncomfortable that she desperately wanted to calm him down. It was actually quite comfortable in the tub to begin with as there seemed to be seats and floor boards in the tub made of wood. The two just sat there looking at each other, Rose up to her neck and the Doctor up to his collar bone in water. They said nothing and Rose absentmindedly tugged at one of the ends of her linen as she explored the dark room with her eyes. Trying to decide on her next move, her eyes fell back on the Doctor who was trying to sit comfortably while it appeared he was making sure that the towel around his hips didn't float off somehow. It was too dark to see anything anyway. By now Rose knew that the Doctor's discomfort was probably more a result of nerves then an uncomfortable seat or disgust at the situation in general, so she decided she'd make it easier for him and help him relax.

"I can give you a massage now, if you like?" Smiled Rose to the Doctor. The Doctor's mind flashed to very pleasant memories as John and he agreed maybe a bit too eagerly than he should have felt comfortable doing. He turned around and presented his back to Rose who started to knead into his sore muscles. It was heaven and the Doctor found himself letting out little moans of contentment as Rose rubbed him all over his back and neck. Rose too was enjoying the skin to skin contact and after about ten minutes of this surprisingly hypnotic act relaxed and wrapped her arms around him with a content sigh. The Doctor surprising both himself and Rose did not pull away but leaned back into the hug. He could feel Rose quite easily against him and before he knew it he was twisting around and pulling Rose into a close and firm hug which she gratefully returned. Rose sat happily on the Doctor's lap half bridal style while he held her in his arms. Rose nestled her head under his chin and cuddled closer to him as he pull her closer still. Rose laughed to herself that it was a group hug with their being technically three individuals involved and then she remembered that she still had a secret to tell. He had not noticed but it was so dark and she guessed for all her paranoia she was not showing enough yet. Being so lovingly wrapped up in this hug she couldn't see the Doctor being anything but delighted at the news she had to tell and let out a deep breath.

"Doctor, I have something to tell you and I'll admit that I'm still scared now, but I love you and well you deserve to know. I'm…" Rose began but then the serenity of the room was interrupted by the sounds of two noisy male voices coming through the sliding wooden door.

"Doctor…We looked all over for you. This sake is great stuff. Really has a kick and we….you must try it." Slurred Jack in a very drunk voice as he leaned on grandfather who was red faced and equally intoxicated. Jack placed a half bottle of sake on to a wooden shelve and then turned back to grandfather to help steady him.

"S'Doctor's the one with big nose right?" Asked grandfather as he started taking off his clothing.

"Yup the biggest, but he's still so cute." Giggled Jack, as he too started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Swell we're here now might as well sober up and wash out the booze. Hurry up or the water will get cold." Said grandfather again as he went to hang his bed clothing on the wall. Jack giggled as he slid open the second door and saw the Doctor and Rose in the tub together. The Doctor swore as he shielded Rose behind him and angrily stated to the Captain,

"Occupied. Jack, get out and wait your turn." Jack laughed out,

"Aw, can't I join?" Rose and the Doctor said a 'No' in unison.

"Way to go Rose that's the way to do it. Just hope you haven't done anything to spoil the water." Cheered Jack and Rose turned three shades of red and was glad that it was too dark to see her face clearly.

"No, Jack you can take the next bath. Just get out of here long enough for us to change." Grumbled Rose very irritated with Jack. She had been so close, but best to get herself and the Doctor out of here before Jack said anything she didn't want the Doctor hearing by accident. The two drunken men were surprisingly chivalrous and Grandfather and Jack left the room long enough for Rose and the Doctor to change quickly into their bed clothing. The largest of the bed clothing fit Rose just fine but the Doctor had to settle for just using his as a wrap since there was no way it was going to fit around his shoulders. He would change as soon as he got to his room, but he wanted to be away from the drunken idiots as quickly as possible. Rose wasn't going to complain since seeing his bare chest was such a rare treat. The two then made their way to their room to relax after such a rude disturbance. Rose swore she was going to beat up Jack later when he was sober for the interruption not knowing that the Doctor was making similar plans. They could have worked as a team to do so. The Doctor then opened the thin paper sliding door to their room and after letting in Rose closed it.

**Author's Note:** Was going to just get on with the story a different way, but I threw in the majority of this chapter for you. Pure fluff for fluff's sake. So if you are frustrated that the chapter didn't really go anywhere or are on edge waiting for Rose's chance to tell the Doctor then blame your desire for fluff, you fluffy fluff monsters, you. Anyway joking aside hope you enjoyed it. I have very little experience in the ways of romance so I can promise you I'm probably not going to stray from the teen rating. If you can't write what you know you should at least write what you can have a vague idea about with some research. Anywho tell be what you think as review help me fingers move, heh.


	53. Ch 53-The murder that should have been

**Complicated **

By the Plot Thinens

Chapter 53 - The murder that should have been

"Well, there goes my plan." The Doctor and Rose both grumbled in unison and then looked at each other confused. They both seemed to dismiss what the other had said and looked about the room. The room was lit by about three oil lamps on various items of furniture throughout it. It was a simple enough room with a tatami matted floor and two futon put out on the floor next to each other. Square-ish looking pillows and some blankets were resting on the futons. The Doctor's eyes could just catch the image of a rather fearsome wolf in front of what appeared to be a full moon, painted in ink, on a wall scroll. A few high windows were near the ceiling for circulation and covered over in paper sliding screens. If the two wanted they could leave the sliding doors open and be rewarded with a view of the garden in the morning since it seemed that their plans had now changed.

"As I was saying there goes my plan. Thanks to Jack sampling a bit too much of the local culture, I have a feeling if he doesn't drown in that bath first, he's going to be too drunk tonight and too hung over in the morning to be moved. So looks like we're staying into the morning. Get cozy Rose and take a nap." Grumbled the Doctor as he sat down on one of the futons and began fishing things out of his leather jacket he had in a pile next to the futon. Rose sat on the futon next to him as she watched him grumble, swear to himself and work bare chested and all but naked if not for that damn wrap tightly around his waist. Rose didn't need to be a genius to tell that the Doctor was now in a bit of a mood and this was not the time to tell him the big news when he was so peeved. She wanted him to be in a good mood and now thanks to the Captain's indulging they would indeed now probably have to stick around longer for him to sober up. The Doctor's reasoning was sound there was no way that they would be able to carry him back to the TARDIS and leaving him behind to get in more trouble while they fetch the TARDIS was out of the question when Jack was in this state. So here she was alone in a darkened room with her half naked husband and he probably was too preoccupied to notice what a nice situation he was in. Rose exhaled and laid down on the futon and tried to adjust herself to the odd pillow.

"God, Am I jinxed?" Rose said exasperated as she tossed and turned hating the square pillow more and more. She just wanted to tell her husband that they were expecting a baby and every time she tried to tell him, every time she got up her nerve, every time it felt like the right time to tell him, something would come up and get in the way. She pulled the tiny pillow over her mouth and screamed into it before throwing it across the room. The Doctor looked up from his work and rested his eyes on the flustered Rose. She looked very uncomfortable and she was probably just as irritated at Jack as he was. He had been enjoying that hug a lot and it seemed like every time he and Rose had a tender moment outside of their bedroom something always got in the way. He knew that Rose loved him, she had said so on many occasions and he was guessing that she was very frustrated in more ways than one. Rose had been throwing off too many pheromones in the bath together for him not notice that she had been very anxious to show that love physically. Last night in bed was display enough and he felt bad that he still didn't know, even when he had Rose in a bath with him with almost nothing on, whether he could take it to that level she wanted. Part of him desperately wanted to if he were honest but still something held him back and he felt guilt even more. He did jerk Rose around and he hated himself for it. He had to do something to make it up to Rose and then he looked back at the pillow across the dark room.

"Rose if that pillow isn't too comfy…Well I don't know how comfortable my boney legs are, but if you want you could rest your head on my lap." Suggested the Doctor, it would only be a minor inconvenience having Rose pinning his legs down and he would have his work done in under an hour anyway. Rose looked down to the Doctor's lap, still in just the wrap and looked back at him. The Doctor blushed a bit, having forgotten that he had less on then usual but he had already offered. It was not what Rose had been thinking about at all but she wasn't going to turn down any closeness with the Doctor. Maybe his mood would improve in a bit. Rose carefully laid the back of her head on the Doctor's lap and look up at him, they laughed and nervously smiled at each other before the Doctor got back to work. Rose watched him work for about twenty minutes before falling asleep in spite of herself. Her pregnant body was demanding sleep again and she had to listen.

* * *

The Doctor was now done fiddling with his project, he had collected two other TARDIS keys from his deep pockets as well as one her had collected off of Rose's rising and falling chest while she slept. After some jiggery pokery had fashioned three perception filters on the keys. This would solve their sticking out problem, so that they could walk about the city without raising the alarm that strangers were about. They could just place these keys around their necks and they would go unnoticed as long as they didn't bring attention to themselves. He let out a happy smirk, ever so proud of himself and looked down to Rose only to see that she was asleep despite the sonicing noises he had been making. Watching Rose sleep put a smile on his face, she was beautiful, 'And she's yours,' a voice in the back of his head reminded him. The Doctor blushed and realized that although he could not complain about the view his legs were begging for circulation, which having sat in this position for about an hour and with someone on his lap had caused issues. He put down his sonic and spotted the ring on it, it was second nature to him to hide it and he doubted that Rose had ever even noticed it was there, because she would have said something. Maybe one day he could wear… he stopped thinking about rings and focused on Rose. Carefully he pulled her up off his lap and slid her back down on to the futon. He then got up and opened one of the Shoji sliding doors and saw the garden in the moonlight. It was divine and he knew just how he wanted to view such a night. He fashioned a big pillow out of his jacket and the two pillows they had been provided with. Then he laid down on the futon taking Rose with him and resting her head on his chest. He giggled slightly as he felt her warm breath tickle his bare chest. God she was perfect. He held Rose close to him and breathed in her scent. Something in his head reminded him that John would have loved the opportunity to experience such a sight with Rose, and brushed some of Rose's golden hair aside. It shimmered in the faint moon light and the Doctor let out a content sigh. It was thanks to this woman that he could have moments like this again and he was very grateful to Rose and hoped one day he would be able to show her that gratitude.

Rose cuddled her head against the Doctor's chest as she pulled her blanket up to her chin. She had woken up to the feel of the Doctor's cool skin on her cheek and murmuring a bit as she started to wake up from sleep. Half awake she kissed his chest and nuzzled his closest pectoral muscle eliciting a slight shiver from the Doctor. Rose now opened her eyes to see that there was just starting to be a hint of dawn and although it was still very dark she could now see the lovely courtyard garden and the songs of birds waking up could also be heard. Seeing such a beautiful sight Rose snuggled into her husband's arms and said barely above a whisper,

"I love you." The three words touched the Doctor's hearts and he nervously looked down to Rose's eyes. To his relief they did not appear to be looking for a return response. She had just said it as simply as one might have remarked that the water in the koi pond was pretty. The unconditional love he received from this creature, who was technically his wife, and everyday felt more and more like his wife, was unbelievable. Rose then sat up and unaware the her sleeping robe was slipping off her shoulders rubbed her eyes and ask,

"What time is it?" The Doctor smiled at her and replied,

"You took about a four hour nap, so it's about three in the afternoon to you and four in the morning here. People should be getting up soon though, when you don't have electricity to unnaturally light the night people go to bed early and don't waste the remaining day light in the start of the morning." Rose made a comment that she was glad that they had lights on the TARDIS then so she could sleep in.

"Yeah, you slept like a baby while I worked on these." Declared the Doctor holding up three TARDIS keys, two on strings and one on a chain. Rose noticed that that was her TARDIS key and wondered when the Doctor had taken it off of her last night.

"I've done a bit of tweaking and now we have three perfectly convenient portable perception filters, capable of allowing even the strangest looking of people, us, from standing out. Put this around your neck and with an activation of the sonic we can move about as we please. As long as we don't bring attention to ourselves of course then people would spot us but we just need to keep our low profile." Explained the Doctor proud of himself and the look his genius was putting on his Rose.

However, the Doctor would never have known that the initial surprise on her face was from the Doctor saying the word baby and not his clever project he had finished while she slept. She had to tell him and sitting together on a futon bed in a lovely ancient Japanese room, overlooking a garden, had to be a perfect setting. Though Rose had been down this path before she geared herself to flat out tell the Doctor the news but expecting something to get in the way she paused a moment. The Doctor looked at her puzzled and was about to ask why she looked like she was waiting for the sky to fall when the two heard loud shuffling and a small crash through the circulation window. Rose cursed to herself and curiously the Doctor got up and getting on his tiptoes looked out a hole in one of the windows. In the darkened abandoned looking alley were two men. One it seemed had knocked into the other who was carrying a few possessions that where now in the ground and the other, on his knees, appeared to be groveling. At first he thought that it was just an overly enthusiastic apology but then the groveler half scared to death shrieked,

"Sir, forgive me, sir. The child got away and now I cannot find two of my men. Demons must have swallowed them up! This plan is cursed. We have to give up before it's too late for us too! I will have no part of it! It must be Haro's spirit he has come back as a terrible ghost and has allied himself with demons because of our plan! I'll have no part in it!" The man standing before the groveler violently grabbed the man by his neck and slapped him across the face.

"Hang your cohorts, where is the brat?" Hissed the man.

"I don't know sir, maybe he drowned maybe he didn't. I didn't see, so I came looking for you. I didn't know what to do next!" wailed the groveling man.

"Idiot, shut up before someone hears you! I told you never to come looking for me here!" Growled the man as he clamped his hand over the groveler's mouth to silence him.

"But you were not at your home office, sir." Sobbed the groveling man. The man was furious at his subordinate. Couldn't he go to a house of pleasure for one night without work following him back to the family home? Especially work as sensitive as this.

"Then you should have waited there until I came back. Get a hold of yourself you superstitious fool! Wait back at the home office and I will speak with you then not before! And as for your comrades they probably have even more sense then you and skipped town when they botched the job! Demons, bah you will have far worse than that after you if this gets found out. You will pray that demons come for you and eat you!" Sneered the man, who then kicked the sobbing man hard in the butt, and watched him scamper off to where he was told to go. The man then turned the corner on the alley near the front entrance of the house. The Doctor found this very interesting.

"Rose, change of plans again. We have a child to protect." Declared the Doctor feeling not only a murder mystery afoot, but a welling of protectiveness to help the child he suspected still was very much in danger.

* * *

Jack had spent the night in grandpa's courters. Although he was much older than Jack he still had a handsome face and appearance. He very much looked like a capable man keeping a business alive and healthy while it was in his stewardship and as it turned out grandpa, like Jack, didn't object to a drunken night with an exotic stranger. Quite the notch in both their belts. And unlike some one nighters, things were not awkward in the morning as the two made their way to the main hall for breakfast. Unfortunately the two were so hung-over that they only made it as far as the garden before feeling sick. Regrettably they would be leaving quite the mess to clean up. Kogi having discovered the two helped them clean themselves up and led them back to the room that he had spotted them coming out of and put them back to bed with plenty of water available to drink, tea and some fruit to help settle their stomachs.

* * *

The Doctor last night had thought that Rose looked so lovely in the simple Japanese style robe that had stopped just above her knees. But now that he saw Rose in a muted pink yukata as she sat at the table next to him for breakfast, she seemed even lovelier. As they were making their way out of their guest bedroom Rose and the Doctor, now back in their clothes, had been stopped by the servant, Ami.

"I hope that I am not disturbing, the day starts pretty early around here in the roofing business, but I have this for your lady, sir."

She had brought clothing which was a gift for Rose from the lady of the house herself. It was a yukata that looked like it would have been quite baggie on a small contemporary, to this time and place, woman. But on Rose, except for a little tightness around the shoulder, it fix fairly nicely. Rose had looked apprehensive of leaving the Doctor's side when there was a mystery about, but he simply nodded and said,

"Won't be going anywhere without you. Go on it would be rude to turn down such a nice gift." Rose nodded in agreement and stayed behind as Ami helped her to dress. The Doctor as he walked in the direction of the entrance hall spotted Jack and Grandpa getting sick in the garden and rolled his eyes, as he suspected, Jack wasn't going anywhere. The Doctor had wanted to look around the property to see if that suspicious sounding man was still around but he had found himself invited to breakfast to which the mistress of the house insisted that he partake. So here he was sitting next to a very nicely dressed Hideki eating rice and fish. The boy had been amazed and delighted that his demon friends had stayed the night and now that they were in broad daylight the Doctor Tengu seemed more comical then frightful to him. It was kind of amazing having benign demons as friends after all. The Doctor smiled down at Hideki who seemed to be uncomfortable in the fairly formal wear and tugged at his outfit now and again trying to get comfortable. But the lad couldn't complain too much as his mother had brought out some rare treats, wagashi, just for him to eat with his breakfast. She was certainly the definition of doting mother today and he smiled, but not as much as when Rose had stepped in and sat down.

"You look beautiful." Complimented the Doctor as Rose sat down and took up some chopsticks to eat. Ami, after helping her dress and do her hair had led Rose to breakfast where she, much to her relief, found the Doctor. Rose was very pleased with the compliment and opened her mouth to speak when the Doctor piped out,

"And before you say it, you look beautiful for an anything." That was not what Rose was going to say, she was just going to say 'thank you', but she liked that the Doctor was trying so hard to think about her feelings and insecurities. The two ate in silence the side of their legs just touching each other when Kiyomi spoke up,

"Rose-sama you look wonderful. I was a little worried that I wouldn't have anything in my closet to offer you. You are so much taller than me. It looks nice on you though. Thankfully I held on to it, it was the largest and nicest I had to offer. But I just hope you don't mind that I gave you some of my old maternity clothing." Rose choked on her tea and spits some of it back into her glass at the sound of the words maternity clothing and gasping said that it was fine. How unexpectedly fitting! She then turned her eyes over to the Doctor as if she felt that he somehow just knew that she was secretly, so far, carrying his half-Time Lord Child. But much to her relief he just made a comment about how funny it was when things worked out. Kogi came in and announced that indeed grandpa and Jack would be sleeping in late. The older man then went out to the front entrance to water some plants. The Doctor just wished that he had had a chance to catch that man in the street, but it turned out that the man had come to him.

* * *

The quiet of morning was interrupted by the rather loud entrance of the boy's uncle, Basho. Basho was a short man for his time and prematurely balding although he was a relatively young man. He was dressed very nicely; some might even call it too much so by comparison of his more conservatively and utilitarian dressed family members.

"Kogi told me at the entrance, where is he?!" Shouted Basho sounding very concerned. Then having spotted the boy he threw himself onto the floor and hugged the child fiercely. Hideki hugged his uncle back in clear affection and told him that he was fine and his new friends had saved him.

"Oh my dear Nephew, my poor dead brother's only child! Thank the gods you are safe." Bellowed Basho to his nephew. The man had had tunnel vision looking for his nephew but now looking at their guests he pulled back in surprise.

"What devils are these?!" Asked Basho, sounding very rude and scandalized at their appearance.

"Dear Brother-in-law, please do not be so disrespectful the Hideki's lifesavers. They may look a bit different but if they save my son then they could have hair as blue as the sky for all I care! This is the Doctor-sama and Rose-sama, are they are honored guests in this household." Scolded Kiyomi. Basho said a quick apology but could not stop staring at the people he saw as freaks. Once he had got past that shock he then reminded himself that it was because of these meddling freak shows that his nephew was still alive. Sitting down to join them he decided that he needed to get some intelligence out of them to see how much they had seen or knew. If the wrong information became known then he could have everything to lose and nothing to gain by his treachery. The Doctor saw the scrutinizing look from the balding man and was not intimidated. The Doctor knew now that obviously a flat out accusation from a stranger was not going to prove the man's guilt especially since he seemed to be a loved member of the family. He would have to gather information and build up a case. 'Let the games begin.' Thought the Doctor as he sipped on his tea.

"So what is it exactly that you do, Doctor-sama? What brings you to Kyoto?" Asked Basho trying to keep up the appearance of the most respect for the people who had thwarted his plans. The Doctor smiled friendly like and replied,

"Oh I do a little of this a little of that. Just passing through with my companions. I could ask the same of you. What is it you do?" Basho made a slightly forced smiled and said,

"Oh a man who likes to play games, hmm? Very well, I am a merchant. A rather successful one actually, if you will let me brag. I live in the business end of town but I frequent my brother's old home when I can for a visit." In truth if Basho was not hung-over and awake in the morning he usually was by to have a meal at least three times a week. Now with a touch of the dramatic Basho threw his arms around his nephew and declared,

"I just now wish that I had decided to be a roofer like my brother so that I could help Hideki learn the ropes now that my dear brother, his father, is deceased."

"It's okay Uncle, Grandpa is doing a fine job teaching me. Someday I'll be running the house and business just as good as father did. Don't you worry." Assured Hideki, his Uncle smiled back at him and agreed that he was sure he would. The balding man and the Time lord shot back questions for another half hour before the Doctor got up and said,

"Well, mornings well on its way and we've got some sightseeing to do before moving along. Kiyomi if we could trespass on your hospitality a bit longer, Jack seems to need to sleep off a bit more from his celebration with grandpa last night. Might he stay here for a bit longer while Rose and I look around town?" Kiyomi had no objections and invited them to stay for as long as they liked.

"Mama, can I go along with The Doctor and Rose? They might get lost without someone who knows the area. And Grandpa isn't going anywhere; we can put in the report when grandpa is feeling better." Declared Hideki.

"Good idea. I would go do it myself right now but I have a shipment coming in today and if I'm not there to take stock I could be robbed blind. Some of the workers in the supply chain these days are taking a cut of their own from my shipments!" Grumbled Basho. Kiyomi really didn't want her boy outside today, especially not without first having the police looking for his kidnappers first, but she wanted nothing but to please him today and since he would be traveling with such big, and even a bit scary, travelers then he would surely be safe. She agreed but told them to be back before the evening.

The Doctor and Rose then walked to the front door with Hideki following close behind. Basho had a feeling that the Doctor knew more than he was letting on about last night and he suspected that he was going to do more than just sightseeing. Still he didn't see anything coming of it. His servants would be able to spot the Doctor and his odd associates a mile away if they came anywhere near his end of town, which now that he thought of it he better get back to. His business should never be left alone on its own for too long. It was so frail lately he feared a slight breeze could knock it down.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: The Doctor and Rose seem to be warming up to each other just a bit more story by story, I like how their characterization in such different circumstances is coming out. What do you think? And if anyone feels I'm jerking them around, sorry, but I promise you that any frustrations on your part will be paid back tenfold later.


	54. Chapter 54 -Gallifreyan inquisition

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 54- No one expects the Gallifreyan inquisition!**

The Doctor, Rose and Hideki walked up to the entrance to the house and opened the gate, it was early yet in the day, but in a matter of minutes there would probably be plenty of people rushing about doing their business. Everyone put their shoes back on including Rose. Rose's feet were of course too big for the socks that she had been offered earlier for her outfit so she had just worn her own socks and her own shoes. It ruined the look a bit, Rose had joked, but the Doctor simply said that no one would be looking at her feet. This could have been a compliment and an insult at the same time. The Doctor pulled out the remaining two keys on strings and put one around his neck and then looked to Hideki.

"I suppose he will need one as well if he is coming." The Doctor said as he bent down to the boy's level and looped the key on a string around his neck. Hideki picked up the key from off his chest and looked at it in fascination. He had never seen such a key before and it was made from a metal that he did not recognize. He looked to the Doctor for an explanation which The Doctor gave in a means that he thought that an ancient Earth child would understand.

"This is a special key that will keep us free from prying eyes. Do not bring attention to yourself and no one will bother us." Declared the Doctor who then with a wave of his sonic activated the keys around his, Hideki and Rose's necks. Hideki was amazed by what he saw as a magic metal stick lighting up and glowing blue. He was so dazed by it that it took him a moment longer than normal to notice that they were now meant to be on their way so he followed his demon friends out onto the dirt street. They then stood off to the side of the house and waited, Hideki looked at the Doctor confused but he just signaled to be patient and wait which he did. A few moments later the boy's uncle exited the house too and after a few moments they were following him or at least walking in the same direction. The young lad wondered what was up, but did not ask if he followed the Doctor long enough he would surely find out sooner or later.

* * *

Hideki watched in stunned amazement as the two striking demons walked about the streets with no one noticing. He was sure that his friends would have caused a riot despite what the Doctor Tengu had said, but not one person seemed to notice them. Just like the Doctor had explained earlier they went unnoticed. Magic he was sure. He had a million questions but did not say a word to them or anyone as if sensing it would somehow break the magic and then the Doctor Tengu might be cross with him. He just followed close behind the couple as they held hands going down the street seeming to communicate wordlessly. They moved through the crowds as Basho walked in front of them, all the while the group was making sure not to bump into anyone passing by in the street. This was a task that got harder as the streets filled with people as they crossed into the merchant part of town. Hideki was not afraid he would lose them in the crowd. They were too tall and unusual looking for that, but he was becoming frightened that he might get pushed away from them. If he were honest with himself, he was still very afraid of being alone and by himself in public. He kept thinking that he saw his attackers at every turn and quickly as he could rushed up between the Doctor and Rose and held on to their joined hands. Both seeing that the boy was upset, they broke their own handhold and each held onto one of his hands for reassurance. The whole situation the Doctor realized would be very unusual for a child even if his traveling companions weren't strange looking. And it must have seemed odd spying on a much loved uncle from behind while fearing getting caught. To put the boy's uncertainty at ease he gave Hideki's hand a reassuring squeeze and said softly,

"You're doing fine, don't worry. No one is going to bother us. Buck up, yeah?" Rose also gave her support to the boy with a comforting smile. The child obviously didn't look like them but traveling with a child holding onto both their hands made her think of a possible future time when her own child was older.

* * *

Finally after a few minutes more they reached the warehouse and apparently living courters of Basho, which even Hideki, had to admit in a whisper that he had never himself been here before. Usually if he went anywhere he was diligently following the roofers of his father's company to soak up experience. The Doctor upon surveying the building had to agree with Rose's remark,

"What a dump." The building looked rundown but it might have seen better days at one point. The banners on it were ripping, the windows were damaged and overall it looked like it had significant damage from the elements. It didn't look like the location for such a successful business that Basho had boasted about. There did not seem to be, at a glance, any other way to get inside other than the front door but they had not gone around back yet. The group moved attempting to slip in around the back of the building when four large men rushed out of the front door and almost bumped into them which would have meant trouble. No sooner had they gasped a sigh of relief did Basho poke his head out and address his lackeys,

"Now remember, you will know them when you see them without a doubt. Big, oddly colored hair, hideous noses and eyes. If you see them come back straight away and warn me. I want no surprises if they come snooping around, not today..." Basho then went back inside and a man serving as a guard stood in front of the door.

"Okay, front door is definitely out now. Let's move around back." Whispered the Doctor. Around back was a small yard that was covered in crates and barrels of goods. It had a foul smell to it that made the Doctor's very sensitive nose twitch as well as Rose's. Hideki seemed not to notice, but he was more accustomed to strong smells every day. It was an especially hot day and as they turned the corner the three spotted a group of sliding doors that were open to let in a breeze and their going over figures sat Basho. The time travelers and the boy settled in behind some barrels in the small patches of grass they could find for a sit. They wanted to see if anything suspicious would happen. It was a waiting game and they did wait, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary and the Doctor was about ready to come up with another plan when a loud cry and crash was heard toward the front of the building. The Doctor grabbed Rose and Hideki protectively and hunched down lower. Trouble seemed to be coming. Basho looked alarmed as his guard was thrown into the room on his feet and two men still wearing their sandals stormed in. One of them was small and lavishly dressed by comparison to his stockier and muscular companion, who appeared to have dragged and then thrown the poor guard to where he found himself in a daze now. The muscular man grabbed Basho and lifted him up off the ground before roughly depositing him on the floor. The Doctor thought that things were getting interesting. Hideki on instinct was about to run to his uncle's aid, but Rose reminded him to be still and not wishing to displease demons, he remained silent.

"Look, I'll have the money for you soon. I'm just having an issue with my banker is all. It's coming soon I promise. This isn't a big deal shipments go missing sometimes and my company has every intention to reimburse you." Said Basho almost whimpering. The thugs warned him that he had maybe less than a day to reimburse them, and not to press their 'kindness' anymore than they already had.

No sooner had the thugs left and Basho was alone did another man come into view, this time from a hidden compartment in the floor. Rose had to stifle Hideki from crying out when he had finally seen the face of the man that had been hiding in Basho's apparent smuggling place for hiding anything he didn't want found. Basho looked irritated at the man, if he had not been so reliable in the past when he needed something done he probably would have tried his luck hiring some idiot off the street to do his bidding. Basho snarled,

"When I said to come back here and wait, I didn't mean do so like a sniveling coward. Now that my, expected guests, have left… I want you to explain to me in detail why my Nephew continues to breathe air!"

"As I said it was a botched job and demons assisted him! I swear." Said the man who seemed so disturbed by last night's event that he expected demons to crop up out of every shadow.

"Idiot, I've seen your demons and they are hideous creatures, but as mortal and flesh and blood as myself! I need that boy dead! I don't care how it is done. Drowning didn't work, then poison him! Find someway to do it. Be bold, any questions as to his end can be blamed on those foreign devils. They are staying in the house and their looks alone are enough to condemn them to guilt. I need him dead so I can inherit everything and settle this debt!" Declared Basho as he grabbed the man and all but kicked him out the door. Alone or at least thinking he was alone, Basho collapsed to the ground and put his palm over his eyes in frustration. Basho was in trouble and trouble historically had been his brother's job to dig him out. Without him Basho was now drowning in a situation over his head and ability to control on his own, though he did not want to admit that. His brother had always helped him in the past but then there was the one time that Haro had refused and that had spiraled his life to the way it was now. None of this was his fault in his mind it was his dead brother's fault he was in trouble and who better to pay him back for his despair than his son. Basho's mind was going to dark places again and he needed to focus on work. He had so much paper work to do and for now he had enough time he thought for his remaining assassin to get the job done right.

* * *

That was all that the Doctor and Rose had needed to see and quickly and quietly they moved Hideki, still in shock, toward the street and off into what appeared to be a small garden, possible graveyard, that was somewhat secluded and that they had spotted two blocks down earlier. The whole time Hideki had been good as gold and had remained quiet so that his friends' magic would not be broken. The garden which had turned out to be a small cemetery and shrine was somewhat private as it was surrounded by an open wooden gate and stone walls. The space was littered with bushes, trees, and precious shade on this summer month. They sat on the ground just by the gate in the shade among some stone lanterns to plan what needed to be done next. The boy was horrified that his own uncle had planned his murder. He wanted to cry but instead clung to the Doctor, whom rested a comforting and protective hand on his shoulder.

"Why does it have to be like this?" The boy asked, he had always been fond of his uncle as much as his father had been. The Doctor sighed,

"There is no sure reason, lad. Some people are just like that. They value money over all things, even other people. And then there are some people like you, me and Rose who value life in all its forms and see that it's the most precious thing out there. We can just see that some things are more valuable than gold." The Doctor said to the boy and then smiled at Rose. Rose turned her head to the side and blushed from the Doctor's gaze. She couldn't help but feel like the Doctor had directed that last sentence toward her. She felt that her blushing was getting obvious and looked to change the subject.

"So I get it, Basho needs money. Why didn't he just ask for help, yeah? You're family doesn't seem to be too short on cash?" asked Rose of Hideki confused. The boy could only shrug, if he had known that his Uncle was in trouble then he would have gladly asked his mother, who held the change purse now that his father was dead, for help. The Doctor just grumbled,

"They say too much pride can kill a man."

"What do we do now, tell the police?" inquired Rose of her husband. The Doctor thought of that idea and then wisely declared,

No, too dangerous even if Hideki does go and report, they might not believe a child without evidence or two demons who don't exist."

"Ah, right. So what's the next move then?" replied Rose.

"Best to let him incriminate himself, humans become very desperate when money is involved." Stated the Doctor as fact. He would have to think of some plan to help put the criminals behind bars before they had another go at Hideki. The Doctor began to donate part of his very large brain to formulating a plan. The other part of his brain, the part that still held his parental instincts, which had lay dormant for so long, saw that there was still a very upset child in front of him. He saw across the street was something of interest to a child but just to be safe, he first got up and looked to make sure that no one suspicious was around. Seeing that the coast was clear he walked over to Hideki, who now was sniffling, the Doctor reached, into his very deep pocket and fished around inside of it. Eventually the Doctor pulled out what appeared to be a gold piece and handed it to the boy.

"Couldn't help but notice a vender across the street. How does a nice treat of takoyaki sound. You can go over and talk to the man now, it's fine. Just be quiet when you walk back over here." Explained the Doctor as he patted the boys head. The little guy perked up and he happily ran over to the vender's steaming stand and paid for three servings of takoyaki. Rose loved this side of the Doctor. He might come off as a grumpy old alien some of the time, but there was no denying that he had a soft spot for children. Rose's thoughts immediately flashed to their own child as a toddler and the Doctor taking them through time and space just so that they could pick up a favorite treat for their little one if they were feeling blue. There was no doubt now that he would make a grade 'A' father to her child, if she could just get up enough courage to tell him that he had one on the way. Rose reclined back against a shady tree as she watched her husband keep a safe eye out for any sign of trouble on the street that might threaten the boy. Ready to jump out, crowd or no crowd, to save the child in his charge. 'Protective father and good with kids too? Sign me up for that man. Well, technically I already am.' Thought Rose happily as she absentmindedly rubbed the part of her abdomen where their baby was growing. Realizing what she was doing she stopped immediately before the Doctor could have a chance to spot her and sat up to see Hideki coming back unharmed and very happy.

"Thank you, Doctor Tengu." Said the boy when he came back, and handed the other two servings to his friends before happily gobbling his own treat. Rose looked at the doughy griddled balls on a stick and sniffed it suspiciously.

"What is it?" asked Rose as she looked to her husband. The Doctor popped one into his mouth and declared,

"Octopus in a kind of dough, kids love em. Like a hot dog to an American, heh." Rose looked skeptical at the treat to which the Doctor scoffed in mock indignity,

"Oh come on, I've fed you worse than that. At least it's cooked." Rose took another sniff at the food and couldn't help but feel that it smelled more appetizing. She guessed that pregnancy cravings were now kicking in as she had never liked eating octopus or anything with tentacles. But what the baby wanted it got and she ate down the three dough covered octopus treats and licked the stick clean. The Doctor smirked knowing all along that she would like it. Hideki was very happy to have eaten and licked his fingers clean.

"Come on, I've got a plan and it's about time that Jack started earning his keep on this trip." Said the Doctor. The group then left the shrine cemetery unseen by the crowds with the aid of the TARDIS perception filtering keys around their necks.

* * *

When they arrived at the house, they found a flustered grandfather.

"Where have you been, lad? I had to put in the report of your abduction and attempted murder by myself?" Asked the old man a bit miffed. Hideki apologized to his grandfather but explained that he was helping the Doctor and Rose about town. This of course was a more than acceptable excuse to the old man and he dropped his irritation.

"Well the police at least know about it. I gave them a description based on what you had described last night but we are going back tomorrow to see if you can't give their sketch artist enough to go by to get a wanted picture. They were very upset and eager to help since your father, Haro, redid their roof not long ago at discount. Ah your father is even helping, you know, from beyond the grave, bless my poor dead son-in-law." Declared the old man. After exchanging a few pleasantries the Doctor asked where Jack was.

"He is back in his guest quarters. I'm old but I think I tired him out last night." The old man chuckled and the Doctor smiled politely, Hideki looked confused at his grandfather's tone. The three then rushed off to Jack's room.

* * *

"Oi, Jack wake up. I got a job for you." Ordered the Doctor as he opened the door to Jack's own quarters and let accursed midday light into the room. Apparently grandfather seemed to have recovered faster than Jack. Jack rolled over, while squinting his eyes.

"What's wrong, Doc?" Asked Jack who was obviously on the mend of his hang over but would not have protested getting more sleep. He saw that The Doctor, Rose and the boy, Hideki, were standing in front of him.

"We know who tried to kill Hideki, and I have a plan to incriminate him, but I have to leave for a bit. I've suspected something and I think I know what it is now and best be on my way before I cause a paradox. I need you to protect Hideki while I am gone in case someone comes after him before I get back. The person who wants him dead is the boy's uncle. If he is dead he gets the estate and I'll assume any money that goes with it. He appears to owe a large sum of money that he doesn't have and thinks killing a child is his way to financial security." Stated the Doctor grimly. Hideki was upset at the news that his friend was leaving and the Doctor caught the worried look in his eyes from fear of not being protected. The Doctor got down to the boy's level and said in a soothing voice,

"Hideki, do you know what the Tengu respect the most? Bravery. And I can see that you are a very brave little boy. I will be back before you knew I was gone and in the meantime, Jack will keep you safe and the key you are wearing around your neck will keep you hidden as long as you obey the rules of it and be quiet and do not bring attention to yourself when people you do not want to see you are around. Can you do that for me?" The Boy nodded and the Doctor smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's a good lad, now sit tight." Smiled the Doctor and Rose walked off towards the entrance of the house leaving Hideki under Jack's more than capable protection.

* * *

**Author's note:**

The Doctor appears to be good father material, lucky Rose. Guess they spent most of this chapter playing house using Hideki as a replacement child…Well house if it involved a murder plot worthy of the game, Clue. Anyway what do you think? Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got ideas for stories way down the line and had to start writing them out before I forgot. Oh do I have some fun stuff in store for you if you stick around long enough for season 2 and 3. Incidentally, when I do swap seasons I'll be starting a new story so you might have to story alert a new story then. But I'll remind you at the end of season one.

UPDATE! Jeez I made so many typos and misspelling in this chapter, I had to fix it. So a few things changed here and there but nothing earth shattering.


	55. Chapter 55 – Traps be trippin'

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 55 – Traps be trippin'**

Rose and the Doctor had made very good progress back to the edge of town where the TARDIS waited. Rose was very curious as to what the Doctor had in mind and what he meant by paradoxes, because there was nothing Rose understood or feared more.

"Doctor, mind tellin' the rest of the class what have you got planned?" Asked Rose in a slightly nervous voice.

"Rose do you know what Tengu like to do to some of their victims?" Rose reflected on her knowledge of Asian culture and found it quite lacking to say the least.

"No." she answered plainly.

"Tie them to the tops of trees." He answered as if it were obvious.

"Oh yes of course, how could I not guess that?" Snarked Rose to the back of her husband's head as he walked in front of her, keeping an eye out for any people. If they talked too loud they might accidently give themselves away.

"So let's find some rope and we will as the American's put it, 'do some hog tyin'." Rose giggled at the Doctor's choice of words, and his half hearted attempt at an accent like Jack's, but she still had little idea of exactly who the Doctor planned to tie up. 'He can tie me up in his arms any day.' Thought Rose, but then quickly scolded herself. They were here on business.

The Doctor opened the blue box and let Rose, ladies first, into the time and spaceship that was their home. The Time Lord set about to work at the console and after a short shaky journey the TARDIS had landed. Rose stuck her head out of the TARDIS to find that the time and spaceship had landed in a darkened woodland area very near the overpowering sound of water.

"Gonna be a bit of a walk, sorry Rose. I had to park the TARDIS a ways off and used the sound of rushing water to mask the sound of rematerializing."

"Where are we?" Asked Rose. The Doctor smiled and answered,

"We're landed about ten seconds before we first landed last night. And about a little under a quarter mile away. That way our younger selves don't hear a second TARDIS and the rushing water should have masked the sound of re-materialization from any unwanted snoops. We are also far off enough that if my time is correct, which it usually is, if we keep walking down that way we will be able to collect what we came for without incident." Rose rolled her eyes at his idea of usually having time right but then panicked and quickly asked,

"Are you sure it's safe? What you're saying is we've crossed our own time lines again, yeah? I know what trouble that can lead to. What happens if we see ourselves?"

"I know what I'm doing and if you stay close to me and do what I say everything will be fine. Now come on. Time is wasting and we have some hostages to take." Declared the Doctor as he began to walk off. Rose began to follow but was starting to feel fatigued again from all the walking. She hoped that she wouldn't run out of steam too early. She had to be able to keep up with the Doctor.

* * *

It was like watching a TV drama of yourself. Rose saw the fight begin between her band of time travelers and the child snatchers that had taken Hideki. And even though she knew that it all turned out well, she couldn't help but flinch when the Doctor was menaced by the evil men. And it was horrifying to watch the Doctor fall into the dark waters again. Then their chance came. Her younger self and Jack ran onto the bridge and the remaining kidnapper got away. There were only the two left on the ground and the Doctor swooped in to collect them. He knew that they had at least ten minutes to get their captives away but it was still cutting it close and it was a good thing that it was so dark and the water so loud. The Doctor gestured for Rose to grab the other unconscious man on the ground and drag him away.

"Come on, like a big old sack of potatoes." He encouraged as he threw one over his shoulder.

Rose hesitated and said,

"Yeah, but Doctor I don't think that I…" The Doctor's patience was a little shorter than normal because their window of opportunity was shrinking and stated in a lecturing tone,

"Rose, he's a 13th century man on a diet, not nearly as good as yours, in feudal Japan. He can't weigh any more than 125 pounds. You could easily drag that weight on the ground." Rose continued to show resistance to the idea and meekly replied,

"Yeah but…" What the Doctor didn't realize was that Rose was already getting tired and was afraid to exert herself too much due to her pregnancy. She had never been pregnant before and in her ignorance didn't know how much physical exercise and exertion was too much for her. And she certainly didn't want to put her child at risk.

Not having time to argue the Doctor dropped the man he was holding and then grabbed both unconscious men by their feet and in an undignified manner dragged them through the mud back to the TARDIS down the road. The Doctor looked at Rose miffed and she gestured a silent apology, before whispering, in a voice that turned the Doctor's mood from irritated to sympathetic,

"I'm sorry. I'm just really tired." The Doctor decided to drop the matter and cringed when he realized that a rock might just have bumped one of the unconscious men in the face. He then reminded himself that they tried to drown a little boy in a sack and didn't' feel sorry for them anymore. Now that they were nearly in the TARDIS, Rose finally had it sink in that the reason that the kidnappers appeared to have gotten away from them before was because they had been taken away by themselves earlier. Or later… That sounded very complicated even in her head.

* * *

"I think we just invented the tree hugger." Laughed Rose as she stood next to her husband at the entrance of the TARDIS. She closed her eyes and relished in the cool night breeze that was gently rocking the two trees in front of them. The TARDIS was hovering in the air next to the two men tied to the tops of two neighboring trees, as if they were hugging them. As the two terrified men woke up, they were gripped with panic. The men had no idea how they found themselves in this situation or how that demon blue box in front of them flew in the air. They had surely angered demons for the deeds they had done. And every time the trees swayed in the air they screamed as if they were going to fall over. They were at the top of two evergreen-like trees, with very painful and sharp needles poking at their skin. These trees were conveniently located near an entrance on the other side of Hideki's part of town and would surely be found by morning light. However they had taken them ahead a day so that when the two time travelers returned to their own timeline the kidnappers would be found the next day. Now for the Doctor's plan to incriminate Basho. Having the two men's attention he glared at them leaning out of the TARDIS so he was staring into the first man's mud-caked and terrified face. Looking ever much the wrathful and powerful demon he said in a booming voice that breathed unquestionable authority,

"Tomorrow you will be discovered by the authorities and you will tell them everything when they find you. You will tell them what you tried to do to Hideki son of Haro, and who put you up to it or I will hand you over to my demon army. I am a Tengu and do not suffer cowards who kidnap and try to kill little children not even half their size. Do this and do not hold one word of the truth or my retainers will fry and eat you alive…Slowly. Remember, mortals can only imprison and hurt your bodies, but my kind can do so to your souls." The Doctor hissed the last part and Rose would have applauded his performance if it didn't threaten to break the mood. The two men sobbed and promised that they would cooperate with the authorities, tell all that they knew and turn over a new leaf. Satisfied that they were telling the truth, the Doctor shook the trees by their tops and closed the doors to the TARDIS once he pulled back inside.

"And that Rose is how you incriminate someone. Go for the weakest links." He mused. Rose sat down on the jump-seat and let out a sigh of relief. It had been a little unnerving to see the Doctor acting that cold and menacing, even though the two men had deserved it. She had seen hints of his dark side before and although she knew that he would never hurt her, she still didn't like to see him working himself up like that. She liked it when her Time Lord was happy and wanted nothing more than to help keep him that way all the time. Before she knew it the TARDIS had landed again and her husband was out the door. This time they had landed on Hideki's street just around the corner from the gate to Hideki's home. Rose looked about. It was dusk now and the gentle glow of the TARDIS among the Japanese atmosphere looked out of place. The TARDIS was not a real police box, usually, but still it looked as British as British things came and she marveled at how well its perception filter worked. She exhaled as she followed the Doctor, this whole ordeal was almost over and then she could tell her husband that they were expecting a new addition to the TARDIS.

* * *

Basho was scared. No that was making too light of it. He was dead terrified, he'd had trouble with this lot before but this was far worse than normal. The thugs that he owed money to had been around again, to pay him a 'friendly' reminder that they still had not been paid back for their missing shipment. Basho had barely scraped by and gave them all of the meager money he had and promised that the rest **would** be delivered by tomorrow. Hideki had to die and tonight, somehow. Basho's would-be-assassin-for-hire had come back to report that Hideki had not been out with the roofers that day and that he had been confirmed to be back at his home for the evening. Meaning the 'assassin' had not had a chance to kill the boy anytime that day; he had just seemed to disappear. The only reason he knew that the child was home was because he had spotted him outside the gate when elderly Koji had let him and his friends enter. And they seemed to come out of nowhere, he had been waiting and watching that gate for hours and the boy and his odd friends appeared as if out of thin air. This only made the lackey all the more superstitious about Hideki's mysterious friends.

It would be risky to try to kill Hideki inside the home but they had no time left and Basho didn't trust his lackey to do the job right this time when the stakes were so high. It would be a group effort. Basho knew the lay of the land and how to sneak in without aid of the front gate, since he had done it many times in his youth. The lackey knew how to silently kill a man or in this case a boy. Gathering an old roofing ladder that Basho had 'borrowed' a while ago from his brother the two men made their way in the shadows of the darkened street back to the home that, if the night went well, would soon be his.

* * *

Not wishing to upset the house, as the truth would be revealed the next day, the Doctor asked respectfully of Kiyomi if they might spend one more evening under their roof.

"Now that Jack is better we will be on our way in the morning this time for certain." Explained the Doctor.

"Oh course, stay another night if you need to Doctor-sama. It is of no inconvenience whatsoever. Your rooms are still there and I'll have fresh linens put out for you." Smiled Kiyomi. She was still ever so grateful that her precious-only-son was still alive thanks to these odd but wonderful strangers. The Doctor didn't think that they would be doing too much sleeping as they had to safeguard Hideki in the meantime. He had thought about just bringing Hideki into the TARDIS and pop him over to the next day, but that would make the boy ask too many questions. He liked to leave as little information about himself as he could since it always seemed to collect against him after a time. And besides Hideki's mother might miss her son in the night and the Doctor did not want to be mistaken for a child abductor. Nothing could be worse than the loss of a child and he did not wish anyone to feel that for even a fraction of a second.

* * *

A simple dinner of fish and porridge was served with rice and afterwards everyone went off to bed. Or at least everyone but the time travelers and Hideki went to bed. They were busy planning their next move.

"Listen Jack." Said the Doctor as he brushed his hand across the tatami matted floor of Hideki's room.

"What?" Asked Jack waiting to hear the Doctor say more and becoming confused when he didn't say anything. The Doctor rolled his eyes and declared,

"No, actually listen. Not many people know this especially ones in the future but these mats; the very way they are weaved is designed to make noise. There placement is key. Rub the mat one way and it makes a swishing noise when it is walked over. Rub it the other way and it makes no noise at all. Got that? So they are literally designed to let you know when someone is entering into a room but not leaving. Kind of like an ancient Japanese security system. Even in the dark if you listen well enough, you can hear if someone is entering a room. Some have even been known to position them like a parameter around a futon, so anyone approaching could be heard on all sides. Clever the Japanese are. I knew one rather paranoid Kyoto resident of Nijō Castle who devised special creaking floor boards called uguisubari, or Nightingale floors, to defend himself specifically from ninja attacks. Sounded a bit like a nightingale when you walked over them. Early warning to hide if someone is moving about who shouldn't be." Hideki was now very confused as the Doctor was rambling on facts about a man and castle that would not exist in his hometown until the 1600s. He wasn't sure what a ninja was either. But he just chalked it up to matters in the world of demons that mortals could not hope to understand.

"So you're saying we should just lie in wait and sonic anything that moves?" Asked Jack, as lying in wait didn't exactly make for the most interesting of evenings.

"I said be ready for anything. Now you lot know the plan, so let's start playing the waiting game." Gruffed the Doctor. Everyone nodded but then Rose let out a huge yawn.

"Are we boring you, Rose?" Asked Jack in a completely joking voice.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling really drained. I'm worried I might nod off." Apologized Rose. The Doctor looked at Rose with concern. Humans slept a lot more than Time Lords ever needed to, but as far as energy went, Rose was never at a lack. He noticed that she had been very tired as of late and he wondered if he had been pushing her too far lately. He didn't want to run his companions ragged, although he had to admit to himself that watching Rose sleep had become somewhat of a favorite pass time of his. Still now wasn't the time for that. They planned to guard Hideki all night but Rose wasn't essential to the plan when there were two other well rested guards left. The Doctor turned his head to a sliding door. There was a small storage room off on one side of Hideki's room. Padding over he slid the door open and saw that it had some futons stored inside.

"Rose, why don't you take a kip in here while we keep the first watch? We'll let you know if anything happens." Suggested the Doctor. Rose made to protest but the Doctor was having none of it. Then quite unintentionally the Doctor mimicked an act that Rose had once before seen the Doctor do as John. He put his foot down and pointed to the closet.

"You are exhausted, you will be no good to anyone especially yourself if you are not rested, now go to bed." Demanded the Doctor. Rose paused for a moment, the gesture the way he put his foot down it was exactly like John had done once before. Every once in a while the Doctor would say or do something that would remind Rose that John was in there too and was part of the Doctor. Shortly before they had been married, Rose had caught a very terrible cold, but still insisted that she needed to go to work. She had been living with John at that point and she didn't feel right about lying around the house. Doing so would make her feel like even more of a freeloader. But John had been stern in his concern for her health and insisted she march up to her bed and go back to sleep. Rose had felt a bit affronted at him bossing her around, but when she saw the concern in his eyes for her and that he truly just wanted her well again, she had relented.

John had been so sweet that day too. Before he had gone to campus he called her in sick, even though she could have done so herself. After his first class he had cancelled his second class so he could be home sooner for the first day of Rose's cold. He knew he didn't have anything for a cold in the house since he so rarely got sick…In fact, he couldn't recall a time when he had ever been sick in the past. He had come home with a paper bag full of cold remedies, medicines and even picked up chicken soup and chips for her. Rose had by then moved herself down to the living room, in front of the TV on his couch and she was miserable. All she had had was some tissues and tea for her stuffy head. John had then swooped in like an angel of mercy and nursed her back to health. He had not caught her cold, how he had managed to do that she had no idea.

Rose was brought back to reality and looking at the Doctor she blinked twice and he did too. The Doctor was puzzled, had he just been daydreaming? Rose seemed to feel it too because they both had the same strange look on their faces. Jack and Hideki looked on confused but said nothing. Jack knew now was not the time to interrupt whatever they were doing. Rose then nodded her head, 'Was that a waking dream? Weird,' thought Rose. The Doctor was right, even if he didn't know it, she should be thinking of the baby. If the baby needed her to sleep then she had to do that. Rose settled herself down in the closet and shortly after was asleep.

* * *

Basho and his lackey had made it to the south wall of the family home. This side never had foot traffic and a ladder up against the wall would most likely go unnoticed. The two men quietly climbed the ladder and then pulled it up, they would need it to scale the wall again later. Carrying the ladder they walked along the top of the wall and then lowered the ladder into an alcove in the courtyard. The ladder was then hidden in the shadows and they advanced into the house. Basho knew that there were several hiding places and a few not secret, but not often used, little passage ways about the house. Times had never been especially settled militarily or security wise in Kyoto and the wise home builder knew that having places to hide that no one else outside the house knew about were not a wasted effort in home building. Basho remembered as a child that these passageways had been used as storage and he just hoped that the one that led to Hideki's room had not been blocked up by some useless bric-a-brac. He wanted to be in and out fast.

They moved silently along the passageway until they reached a panel that was part of a false wall that led into a storage closet in Hideki's room. All was quiet and this was going all too well. That was until they discovered the sleeping woman in front of the panel. Basho swore to himself and drew his knife. He would have to restrain or kill the woman while his lackey took care of Hideki. Basho decided that he didn't want to risk the woman screaming so he clamped his hand roughly around Rose's mouth and as she became fully awake she realized with horror that there was a man holding her down with a knife to her neck. Rose couldn't scream out loud but she did in her head and the Doctor heard it. He didn't understand how he knew but he knew without a doubt that Rose was in trouble.

The closet door began to open and the Doctor knew that trouble had come. He quietly slipped into the shadows as the silent form crept into the room and towards the only futon in the middle of the room. The Doctor saw another head, not Rose's, also look slightly out of the closet. They were pulling the Doctor's scared wife into the room with them. It then happened so fast, the lackey lunged for the futon and the Doctor silently grabbed for the knife in the hand of the man who had Rose. Jack indeed had heard the tatami mats swish and the lackey soon found that he was not grappling with a child but with a full grown and large man. Jack had uppercut the lackey and easily disarmed him before twisting his arm and crashing the man's head into a wall. The Doctor had twisted the knife from Rose's attacker but the man still had Rose in his grasp. Jack threw his now unconscious opponent to the ground and shined his flashlight on the man who had Rose. It was Basho. Basho squinted in the strong light but held on tight to his female captive.

"Uncle! Let Rose-sama go!" Shouted Hideki, who had now stepped away from his hiding place.

"Stay back, lad. It's you he wants and he's not getting you." The Doctor warned Hideki. Rose struggled with Basho, who just spat back to the Doctor in a crazy and desperate voice,

"Oh, I think I am getting him, because I have this bitch." He squeezed Rose's neck with his other hand and continued,

"You might trade her for my nephew." The Doctor growled at Basho and Hideki demanded,

"Why would you do this Uncle? If you were in trouble we could have helped you. Don't you see that by trying to hurt me, you'd only hurt the future of our family business?"

"I don't care about the business! I just want the house so I can sell it! And like I'm going to beg for money from my brother's whore and a child who's voice hasn't even cracked yet! If you were out of the picture the family purse would have gone to me. My creditors are hounding me! If I sold the house I would have broken even and gotten back to business."

"He's just a stupid greedy man, Hideki. No sense in trying to reason with him." Declared Jack as he stood waiting for his chance to pounce the moment an opening came his way.

"Oh, intelligent. Insult the man who's crushing your whore's jaw and windpipe." Hissed Basho as he clamped tighter on Rose's jaw making her cry out in muffled pain.

"This is your daft father's fault anyway. If he had just given me the money he wouldn't be dead."

"What?" Questioned Hideki. Knowing that there was no point in keeping up secrets Basho relished in giving the next bit of information to the son of his idiot dead brother.

"My dearly departed brother said that he wouldn't give me anymore money. He was on a job and I was helping bring tools up for him via a rope he had around his stomach. I tied the tool to the end and he pulled it up. I was always going out of my way for him! He had always given me money when I was in trouble before, I didn't see what was different that time. Not like he didn't have enough of it and he could always have sold the business. But my up and coming greatness wasn't as valuable to him as the family business. I'm in the sorry state I'm in now because he wouldn't help pay off my debt. I was on my way to making a name for myself and now thugs hound me for money I owe. That tightwad brother said if I wanted anymore money off him, I could drop the merchant job and come work for him. He was always jealous of my success and he wanted to drag me back under his thumb again. To his dirty world of roofing. I was furious and in a moment of anger I tugged on the rope he had tied to himself to pull those supplies up. I only meant to intimidate him but he slipped after that and fell. It was his own fault! Only an amateur roofer lets himself fall like that!" Hideki didn't know what to feel. His beloved Uncle had not only tried to kill him but had killed his precious father. He wanted to be angry, sad, to hunger for revenge, but looking at the pathetic man, Hideki only felt pity. Basho was incapable of seeing what he had done and a man incapable of knowing the weight of his actions was a sad sight to Hideki.

The Doctor had had enough of Basho's mad ranting and was contemplating finding a way to pin point his sonic on Basho's eardrums, but suddenly Basho squealed in pain and slightly keeled over enough for Rose to pull herself free. It was then that the three other people in the room had realized that Rose had smashed her heel between Basho's legs. The Doctor pulled Rose into his arms and held her close. Seeing that except for some reddened skin around her mouth that she was fine, the Doctor and Jack went to apprehend Basho. However Basho had recovered enough to slide the paper door to the closet shut and was already racing down the passageway. Jack had tried to follow but along the way lost him and ten minutes later had return to his group of friends empty handed.

"He got away!" Mourned Jack, but the Doctor simply said that Basho would get his soon enough.

"A man like that with people like we saw earlier on his back. Can't get very far for very long." The Doctor added. Hideki however, was still upset but felt as if he had aged years after what had happened to him tonight. He felt more determined that his family business should succeed.

* * *

Basho had escaped capture and was running back to his business. It would be dawn in just a few hours and he needed to be out of town by then... He would have to run and find someplace else to start over. He had virtually no money now but whatever condition he would find himself in a week from now was better than inside a jail cell. Little did he realize that when he stepped back into his business and what awaited him inside, a jail cell would have been much preferable. Basho was never seen again and nor was he missed.

* * *

The police had been by in the morning to collect Hideki's attempted murderer. The family had conveniently left the Doctor and his friends out of the investigation. All appeared to be going well and much to the fear and bafflement of the police, Hideki's two other failed murderers were found tied to the tops of two trees and had confessed all their misdeeds. Tengu had ordered them to do so, the men had practically screamed to the police, so scared for their lives they were. Human justice was nothing in comparison to the punishment that awaited them if they were untruthful now. All that was left was for the time traveling trio to get into the TARDIS and be on their way. They said their goodbyes and stepped out the front gate. Rose had told Hideki that their transport was waiting for them down the street and he was excited to see a blue demon chariot and even wondered if it flew like in drawings he had seen growing up. He couldn't wait and ran ahead of the group. Forgetting his company Hideki didn't give the group of town guards he passed much thought. The time travelers, however, found themselves in trouble when they were intercepted by the town guards as they turned the corner. Hideki ran up to the weird blue box called a TARDIS and was amazed at the odd thing. He had only just touched it when he noticed that his friends were not behind him. The boy had been invited to see them off but fortunately he went unnoticed when standing near were three people as odd looking as the Doctor, Rose and Jack.

"Oh yes, perception filter. Knew I forgot to do something." The Doctor scolded himself as the guards took them into custody. Jack and Rose rolled their eyes and both gave an exasperated sigh. The three were led away past Hideki's home and his family and household had witness their friends predicament. What should they do? They had saved Hideki so they had to help them somehow.

* * *

The guards were astonished by these strange intruders and were keeping them under lock and key. This was something that the local officials just had to see to believe. Hopefully they would soon arrive and perhaps better educated men could explain the strange people's presence in the city. Maybe they were even foreign spies. The guards had taken the Doctor's Sonic and Jack's squareness gun and thankfully none of them could find out how they worked. They seemed more interested in the metal they were crafted from than the actual use of them. But it would only be a matter of time before one of them caused an accident.

"Kinda rude how they keep staring at us like we're monkeys in a zoo." Grumbled Rose, unconsciously wrapping her arms protectively around her midsection, as the three of them sat behind iron bars. Two of the guards had been left behind at the small jail cell while the rest had gone off to fetch someone of greater importance.

"They are probably amazed enough that we can speak Japanese. Well jokes on them." Declared Jack trying to keep the mood light as he formed a plan. Jack looked the two men dead in the eye and said sarcastically as he stuck his hands into his jacket pockets,

"Hey buddy, I want my one phone call." Jack felt the insides of his pockets and got an idea. They had taken the contents of his outer pockets but had not thought to check the inside, which meant Jack had tools to aid in escaping. Though escaping the cell was not so much an issue of concern right now to him as getting past the guards. Once they were out of the picture they could plan the next move of escaping. Jack had two things in his pocket at the moment and he pulled out the first, dental floss. Jack liked to keep novelties from Rose's time around since he started visiting 21st Century Earth with her. Having a perfect smile was always a must for Jack and although there were better ways to keep your mouth clean than brushing and flossing, he had gotten into the habit of doing it after watching Rose. Jack took out the floss and began pulling some of the mint flavored plastic string from its container and proceeded to demonstrate for his captors. Captivated by the strange act the prisoner was doing one of the guards asked,

"Hey, what's that you got there?" Jack wiggled his body back and forth with the movement of the floss and turned around so the two guards could not see.

"I said what have you got there?!" Shouted the guard, but Jack just walked closer to the wall and further away from the guards. Angered the two ran up to the bars and reached in for Jack. That was when Jack dropped his floss and fast as he could, pulled the fuzzy handcuffs he had in his pocket out and cuff the two guards' hands to each other through the bars. They were now stuck and could not pull their hands through. The Doctor took this time to restrain one guard while Jack restrained the other. Rose then pulled the key to the cell off of one of the guards and opened the locked door. The Doctor then used his sonic to put the guards into a sleep that they wouldn't wake up from for at least a half hour. Having collected their belongings, they were free to go.

* * *

"They are benevolent demons and I have to help them escape in their chariot. The blue box down the street is theirs and I need it brought out of sight. I can't risk someone finding it." Declared Hideki unaware of the properties of the perception filter on the TARDIS. Surprised at Hideki's declaration but still grateful to the strangers none the less, the family and household agreed with their now unopposed head of the house.

After pointing out the box to his family, Hideki had followed the guards to where his friends were being held captive. The Doctor had been worried that Hideki would be implemented with them so he had quickly activated the boy's key, which the Doctor remembered he had neglected to ask for its return. The Doctor had activated the boy's perception filter as they were taken away but, it was too late to work on the three time travelers now that they were the focus of attention, but he could at least keep Hideki and his family out of trouble.

* * *

Hideki had arrived at the guard station only to see that it had not been left unattended. This would require bravery. He breathed in a deep breath and believing in the Doctor's magic began to walk past the checkpoint as quiet as he could. To his relief he went unnoticed. He made his way down the corridor of the building only to run head on into Rose. Rose instinctually turned her body away from the rushing boy and managed to avoid him running head on into her stomach and just her side. Rose was relieved that she had avoided injury to her stomach but then quickly helped the boy to his feet.

"What are you doing here, Hideki?" Asked Rose as the Doctor and Jack walked up to them.

"Rose, Doctor Tengu, Jack. There are guards up ahead. Be careful." Warned Hideki.

"How'd you get past them, then?" Asked Jack. Hideki held up his key and replied,

"I stayed quiet and didn't bring attention to myself, just like Doctor Tengu said." The Doctor patted the boy on the head and stated,

"There's a good lad, now let's all follow his advice and get out of here as quietly as possible." The Doctor pulled yet another spare key from his pocket and in a few moments had a fourth perception filter key made for Jack. He then activated all the keys and said,

"Easier to do the second time once you have it all figured out. Now button your mouths and let's go." The group walked past the guards unnoticed and Hideki had to work very hard not to laugh and give themselves away. Hideki led the group back to his home to which the Doctor declared,

"We don't need to hide out, kid. Our exit is around the corner. "

"I was worried that the guards might find it later, so I had my family hide it. We hid it in our woodshed. Come on." Insisted Hideki. Suddenly shouting was heard down the street, it seemed that every authority figure was yelling and running up and down the streets looking for the foreigners that had escaped. They knew that to give the signal to open the front door they would have to make themselves known to any eyes on the street and the group just hoped that no one was watching as Jack once more 'rang the doorbell'. Koji opened the door and not taking chances they quickly went inside the house and made their way to the woodshed and as good as their word there was the TARDIS.

"Wasn't she heavy to move?" Asked Rose, not believing that it could be moved by so few people.

"Only when she wants to be." Smiled the Doctor as he rubbed the door frame of the TARDIS. The Doctor then looked to Hideki and his family. He knew that war was coming this year and people like Hideki and his family could get caught in the crossfire. Taking his sonic out he waved it over the key on Hideki's neck giving it enough power to work as a perception filter for the next fifty years. Maybe after that time it would become sort of a legendary family good luck charm, he didn't know.

"If you ever need to hide, if you come into trouble. You know how to use this. There are tough times and dangers ahead. You need to be careful." Said the Doctor in a concerned voice. Hideki smiled at the Doctor and wanting to lighten the mood he smiled,

"Father would say, 'Never worry about work, my son. Everyone regardless of the times needs roofs to live under, so you will always be able to find some work." The Doctor smiled at the boy's wit and ruffled his hair. Hideki then noted how he had almost burst out laughing when they passed the guards before on their way out of jail. To which Rose and the Doctor had to admit that it was funny to walk past people who were clueless. Jack exchanged a few pleasantries to Grandfather, and maybe a kiss, before the group heard noise outside the tall walls.

"Maybe they went this way! Someone said they spotted someone with a big nose near here!" Shouted a guard though his voice was a bit muffled.

"Oi, it's not that big!" Gruffed the Doctor, but the laughter was contagious and he had to let out a little smirk as the time travelers ran back into the TARDIS and put it into the vortex.

* * *

Rose had been laughing when she had crossed the threshold of the TARDIS doors and when she ran up the ramp to the console. And even when the Doctor had put the TARDIS in to the vortex, but after that she felt dizzy and sat down on the jump seat. Jack and the Doctor were still laughing up a storm at their escape but their attentions were quickly grabbed by the unmistakable sound of vomiting.

'No not here, not now!' Rose screamed in her head as she threw up. She had not taken her medicine since yesterday. She had been feeling so good she had forgotten. The Doctor, now very concerned for Rose, ran to her side and began to rub her back. Jack not knowing what to do looked about the room and saw on one of the coral struts a glass of water and a handkerchief. The TARDIS apparently felt the need to help out as well at this moment. Jack handed Rose the two items and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he handed over the piece of cloth. He then stepped back to give the couple space. Rose wiped the sick from her nose and mouth and then rinsed her mouth out with the water before spitting it back into the glass. Her mind now off of the burning sensation in her nose, Rose froze in terror as the Doctor began to speak,

"Rose, what is it? Was the fish they gave you at dinner dodgy?" 'Now or never.' Thought Rose as she braced herself for whatever the hell was to follow. Rose grabbed at the Doctor's hand and clutched it as if her life depended on it.

"Doctor we're safe back in the TARDIS now and before anything else happens, I've got something to tell you. And I should have told you a while ago but I was too…You know the time before when we were looking for books of Hemingway in the library? You felt something and I felt it too. And I well…The reason for that is that you're not alone anymore! We're going to... We're having a ba…" There was then a powerful white light and then nothing.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Yeah, I know ya hate me for that one, but I couldn't help myself…sorry. Hope you enjoyed the story. On to the game station. Comments appreciated, bwa hahahaha!


	56. Ch56 Bad Wolf – Let's start this show

**Complicated **

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 56 – Bad Wolf – Let's start this show**

"What is it? What's happening?" Shouted the Doctor in confusion as he spun about in a small confined space. He had woken up on the floor in a daze having no memory of how he got there or what he was doing there. He panicked and banged about the four walls until one of the walls, which turned out to be a door, opened. He was inside a small cupboard and fell out onto the ground of a carpeted floor like a sack of potatoes. Hitting the floor was painful but not nearly as painful as his head was feeling on the inside.

"Oh, my God! I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." Said a pretty blond woman in pigtails. She ran over to him very concerned and attempted to help the Doctor up. The Doctor would have been more appreciative for the help and given a 'thank you', if his head wasn't spinning so much. He was even having trouble remembering who the heck he was.

"What happened? I was…" Mumbled the Doctor in confusion as he leaned heavily on the kind woman for support. She was a small thing and even though she was giving it her all, the leather-clad man was still a bit too heavy for her.

"Careful now. Oh! Oh, mind yourself!" Stated the woman as the Doctor stood up shakily and tried to take a step forward only to fall flat on his face again. Sympathizing with the poor man the woman stated,

"Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right?" The Doctor shook his head like a dog trying to get his thoughts straight and once more tried to get to his feet with the aid of the helpful woman. It was really nice of her to do that for him, he had thought.

"So, what's your name then, sweetheart?" Asked the woman. Feeling very dizzy, and holding onto the woman's arm for dear life, the Doctor answered,

"The Doctor, I think. I was, er. I don't know, what happened? How..." The woman smiled and out of excitement for the unsuspecting guest explained,

"You got chosen." As if that somehow was suppose to ring a bell with the strange man. But the Doctor continued to remain confused.

"Chosen for what?" He questioned. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that he had something he was supposed to be doing and this wasn't it. If he could only remember. This woman was blond, and he was looking for a woman who was blond. Well sort of blond, but not this blond. He thought of flowers for some reason and hoped that he would remember who he was looking for soon. The woman decided to throw him another bone and plainly smiled,

"You're a housemate. You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?!" The Doctor was not anymore enlightened by this information and any thoughts mixing about in his brain were interrupted by a posh sounding voice,

"That's not fair. We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then he comes swanning in." The young looking man, that the voice belonged to, did not sound amused and stood next to a pink screen with a stylized eye on it. Standing next to him and looking equally unamused was a dark-skinned young woman in a pink shirt, known as Crosbie.

"If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me; I'm going to paint the walls." Grumbled Crosbie. The Doctor had been to many alien planets, galaxies and stars, but this was, for the moment, the most alien environment he'd been in yet. Everything confused him as he looked around and then suddenly a computer-ish female voice said over what appeared to be a loud speaker,

"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?" Not having anything else to do, or hoping that things might start making more sense the Doctor complied. He made his way over to the room called the Diary Room and stepped through a door with the same stylized eye on it that he had seen on the screen earlier. Now very puzzled the Doctor sat down on the only piece of furniture in the small room, a comfy looking red chair. He felt like he should feel affronted or insulted as if just being here affronted his intelligence. The same computer-ish female voice then instructed to him,

"You are live on channel forty four thousand. Please do not swear." The Doctor raised his eyebrow and scoffed,

"You have got to be kidding... No one is even going to get this reference in 20 years." He now was sure that he appeared to be in some kind of reality television show. The Doctor continued to stare at the camera in front of him in disbelief wishing that something would make sense already.

* * *

Rose was lying on a cold metal floor. A spotlight shined on her and the hot light from it slowly brought her body back to the waking world. She appeared to be in a studio of some kind but she was too out of it to discern anything about her surroundings. She felt something block the strong light and that was enough of a change to bring her jumbled thoughts to the present.

"What happened?" Asked Rose, settling back into her mind and body and unhappy that her nausea had left her only to be replaced by another form. The first thing that registered to Rose about her physical position was that she was lying slightly on her stomach on the floor. She quickly turned to her side and prayed that she had not landed hard on her abdomen when she was unconscious. Somehow her newly forming maternal instincts had managed to cut through the fog in her brain, but everything else was a blur. How did she get here? Her dazed attentions were then brought back to the unfamiliar African-looking man standing over her.

"It's all right. It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?" He asked politely. Rose just stared at him, she knew he had said something important but it was taking forever to translate in her brain what he said. Her mind felt like it was moving through molasses trying to catch up with the conversation. She just hoped it would all start making sense soon. Then finally it hit her, he was asking for her name. The other stuff didn't make sense yet but the name part did. And well that was a reasonable request. Give her name. That was easy, yeah? 'Now what was my name? Flower…Oh yeah.' Thought Rose in her head as her memories started piecing themselves back together.

"Rose. But where's the Doctor? The Doctor, he's my husband have you…seen him…oh my head. What happened?" Asked Rose in confusion as she clasped her head. She just wanted to crawl back into bed, her head hurt so much.

"Just remember do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law." Warned the man in a mentoring voice. Rose looked at him perplexed, she had no idea what was going on or where she was, but she sort of knew what an android was.

"What do you mean, android? Like a robot?" She didn't know anything, 'Where did they dig this one up from?' Thought the man and he rolled his eyes exasperated. He was in no mood to deal with a newbie amateur wild card contestant. He had a lot at stake and he just hoped that this woman was as dense as she looked. Suddenly a woman's voice shouted out instructions off in the distance,

"Positions, everyone! Thank you!"

"Come on, hurry up. Steady, steady." The man instructed as he led the shaky Rose over to the bright studio set. Trying to make sense of what was going on Rose began to recap what she knew.

"I was travelling, with John, no, the Doctor, he's my husband, I think...Oh and a man called Captain Jack. The Doctor wouldn't just leave me." Declared Rose in a panicked voice, her thoughts still a bit scrambled but catching up to her. Paranoia was setting in with the fear that came from the unknown. She wanted to get away, something was telling her that this wasn't right and to get away. She saw strange metal stands and at least six other people in front of her and didn't know what these strangers wanted with her. She also couldn't recall how she had been separated from her traveling companions. Rose was starting to remember having something important to tell the Doctor when the floor manager shouted in a not too friendly voice,

"That's enough chat. Positions! Final call! Good luck!" Rose wanted nothing to do with these people and sensing that something was wrong or amiss told the man, that was still helping her walk over to the set,

"But I'm not supposed to be here." The man was getting a bit impatient with the new girl now, pointed to a podium with her name on it and stated,

"It says Rose on the podium. Come on." Rose was now very very confused but not knowing what else to do and seeing that everyone was impatient for her to comply she started to walk over to the podium with her name on it. She looked about confused but at least now knew the name of the man she just met, Rodrick. His podium was right next to hers. Suddenly something about the set seemed familiar. The lights and the way the people were standing about in front of name plates on podiums. She had seen this before on television.

"Hold on, I must be going mad. It can't be. This looks like the…" Declared Rose but she was interrupted by the floor manager as Rose finished the last steps to her podium.

"Android activated!" Rose finally got a look at this android and dumfounded she stated,

"Oh, my God, the android... The Anne… Droid." Oh, God she was on what appeared to be a futuristic version of the TV show the Weakest Link. With an android version of the host Anne Robinson. And the pun was terrible!

"Welcome to the Weakest Link!" Announced the Anne Droid in a computer authoritative voice. And Rose knew that she was in for a very odd experience.

* * *

"Here we go again. We've got our work cut out for us." Said a robotic female voice. Jack then heard another voice as he slipped back to reality.

"I don't know. He's sort of handsome. Has a good lantern jaw." Said the other female robotic voice.

"Lantern jaws are so last year." He heard said again by the first voice. A pair of droids, one tall and thin, and the other one short and curvy were in front of Jack. The Captain realized now that he was lying on an examination couch in a white walled room with what appeared to be a rack of clothes nearby.

"Sorry, but, nice to meet you, ladies, but where exactly am I?" Asked Jack in confusion as his mind became fully awake.

"We're giving you a brand new image." Stated a droid named TRINE-E. Jack was befuddled trying to figure out how he got himself into this situation. Had he been drinking and did he pass out? He had a little headache but that wasn't nearly big enough of a headache to qualify as a hangover. So why the memory loss? The bright white lights in the room hurt his eyes but reminded him that he had been on the TARDIS when he saw lights. And that was when he started to remember bits of what he had been doing on the TARDIS before hand with the Doctor and Rose.

"Oh, hold on, I was with the Doctor and he was about to learn something very important. I'd been saving chocolate cigars for weeks now I have to go find… Why, is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" Declared Jack. He considered himself the pinnacle of fashion and to have that put into question was a problem that needed correcting. The Android ZU-ZANA then questioned,

"It's all very twentieth century. Where did you get that denim?" Jack needed to show up these fashion bots and answered,

"A little place in Cardiff. It was called the Top Shop."

"Ah! Design classic." Declared ZU-ZUNA, but TRINE-E began talking about finding new colors for him and losing the Oklahoma Farm Boy look he was sporting. Jack got up and put his hands on his hips, he thought that he was looking just fine, but then ZU-ZANA instructed him to stand still so that the Defabricator could work its magic.

"What's a defabricator?" Asked Jack incredulously, a beam of light then activated and as it ran over Jack's body it disintegrated all of his clothing. He looked down the front of him to see that his clothing was no more.

"Okay. Defabricator. Does exactly what it says on the tin… Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?" Smirked Jack. To which the two robots happily answered the affirmative. Jack took a suggestive glance down his front and proudly declared,

"Ladies, your viewing figures just went up."

* * *

The Doctor had to find a way out. He was wasting time and who knew what trouble either of his companions were getting into right now. He remembered Rose and Jack now and that they were missing. Were they in similar 'houses' like he was? He knew that Jack would love turning a 'house' like this one to mature rated if he could, and the Time Lord rolled his eyes at the thought. The Doctor ran his Sonic Screwdriver over every surface and door trying to get out of this disgustingly decorated prison cell stuffed with whiny teenagers. He tried another setting on the most obvious exit and grumbled,

"I can't open it." Ever the helpful person, the nice blond woman explained,

"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that." The Doctor more or less ignored the additional information and went on to the next question. He had to get out of here and back to his companions.

"What about this?" He asked while beginning to sonic an alcove with a picture on it across the room.

"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."

"Don't tempt me." Said the Doctor plainly and seriously as he gave up on his sonicing for now. The young woman smiled a bit nervously at his comment but then conspiratorially leaned toward the Doctor and asked meekly,

"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?" The Doctor turned to her, smiled politely and answered,

"I don't remember." He really had no clue and he just wanted the nosy person off his back.

"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?" The Doctor then realized that although insignificant to him, this competition, or whatever it was, was important to her and she was scared that she didn't matter to anyone. The Doctor knew that there was value in every person and that everyone no matter how small a part, still played a part in history. And she had been very kind and helpful to him in this confusing situation. She was a nice and sweet kid, yeah that's it sweet.

"No, you're, you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet." The Doctor declared to alleviate her worries. Lynda with a 'y' seemed very pleased with this opinion of her and noted that no one had ever told her that she was sweet before.

"Yeah. Dead sweet." Smiled the Doctor to which Lynda said thanks. The Doctor's eyes were then drawn to a wall that looked like it was suppose to lead to a patio or a garden.

"It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?" He asked for clarity, maybe things were different in whatever time and place he was in.

"Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden?" Declared Lynda as she followed the Doctor over to the wall and then excitedly asked,

"Don't tell me you've got a garden." The Doctor then very casually answered,

"No, I've just got the TARDIS... I remember." Lynda smiled happily for her new friend and cheered,

"That's the amnesia! So what happened? Where did they get you?" The thoughts from his adventures were rushing back.

"We'd just left Raxacoriofallapatorius. No we did some more after that… Then we went to Kyoto. That's right, Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped." Explained the Doctor trying to get his thoughts together and in the present.

"We were together, we were laughing. No something else. Rose was sick and she wanted to say something, then there was this light. This white light coming through the walls, and then…And then I woke up here." Rambled the Doctor as he recalled Rose and Jack slipping away into bright lights. He was now very worried for not only himself now that he was separated from the TARDIS, but for his companions as well. He was especially concerned for Rose since she clearly wasn't feeling good when he last saw her on the TARDIS. The combined desire from both his memories as John and his own desire to nurse her back to health was making him very impatient to find her. He knew that she could take care of herself but he still needed to know that she was well. Did whoever was in charge of this circus have enough common sense to see that Rose wasn't feeling well. Every time he thought of Rose being out there, possibly sick, and in need of help, he was flooded with a stronger urge to be by her side and to care for her until she was back to her normal self. They had already been through an adventure and he usually liked to give his companions time to rest before the next adventure even when they weren't sick. They had not even gotten any sleep yet! Humans needed that sleep and lots of it or they started making mistakes and bad moves that got them in trouble or worse.

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates." Explained the woman. She was trying to be as helpful as she could to the poor confused man. The jig was up; the Doctor now knew just how severe this situation was. Big Brother was indeed watching and that was when he spotted an eye on the wall that look hauntingly like some kind of observation camera and stared at it knowing something was watching that he would prefer did not take an interest in him. He stalked about the room and in a very knowing and suspicious voice that something dangerous was afoot he announced,

"Oh, Lynda with a Y. Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveler. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." The Doctor stood directly in front of the eye and spoke at the camera,

"Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends, and then I'm going to find you." He then poked at the camera wall for emphasis. He didn't know it but he had intimidated a few people watching.

* * *

The floor manager was calling off the number of seconds before the show would start up again and Rose was no less confused. She was very worried for her missing traveling companions and needed to know where her husband and Jack were and if they were safe. She wished that someone would tell her that they were waiting in the green room for her and after this was all over she would be reunited. But so far she had been given no helpful information other than that she was expected to play a game. Rose leaned over to the first person she had met when she woke up, Rodrick, for sympathy and assistance and stated,

"But I need to find the Doc…"

"Just shut up and play the game." Hissed Rodrick and he shoved her back to her podium. Rose was now irritated with the lack of information as the floor manager's count got closer to 0. Very miffed and in a unconcerned voice she said,

"All right, then. What the hell." Then getting excited at the prospect she declared proudly,

"I'm going to play to win!" Why the hell not, what did she care? The sooner this was over with the sooner she could be on her way. And she might as well win just to show up all the jerks that were being so inconsiderate of her situation. Rodrick rolled his eyes at this new person's careless and naive attitude and settled in for the competition. The Floor manager cued the start of the show and the creepy looking ginger android came back to life. Music designed to offset the players, and accelerate their heart rates, started and Anne Droid announced,

"Let's play The Weakest Link. Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?" Rose gritted her teeth getting a little nervous now that the game had started and stared at the man, Agorax who shakily answered Bread. Rose was jittery herself since this was her first time playing on a game show but everyone else looked to her as it this were life or death. It was just a game for Pete's sake.

"Correct. Fitch in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?" Shot off the Android and a terrified looking short haired blond woman called Fitch. She answered the question wrong and then it was Rose's turn.

"Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?" Anne Droid asked Rose. The blond feeling quite slick answered correctly 100. Rodrick's turn was now up and he banked the money that they had collected so far in the game before being asked which letter of the alphabet appears in the word dangle but not in the word gland? It was obvious and he answered 'E'. More questions followed and were directed at a woman and a man called Colleen and Broff, who were equally as nervous about making sure that they got the answers correct.

"Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?" Asked the Android to which he unfortunately answered Touchdown when the right answer was Torchwood. Another round of questions would require answers to facts that Rose saw as quite ridiculous and she had no idea as to what were the answers. She was either in the future, which she was very certain was most likely the case, or on some alien world with humanoid people inhabiting it. The whole situation was just surreal and boy would she have a story to tell Jack and the Doctor afterwards.

"Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?" Asked the cold unfeeling robot. Rose couldn't believe the silliness of it all and began to laugh out loud and barely containing herself answered,

"How should I know?" If it were East Enders than maybe she would give the right answers, but she and the Doctor had yet to watch any futuristic soap operas yet. Little did she realize that she was being looked on with very concerned eyes from a floor she had visited once before so long ago.

"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole." Said the Android.

"Why's she laughing?" A woman asked who was obviously monitoring the game show from a control room. Had this woman gone crazy?

"Oh, my God, I don't think she knows." She gasped as realization dawned on her. The man standing next to her then declared,

"And I've got a housemate who appeared out of nowhere. I told you, it's like the game's running itself."

* * *

Jack was posing in the mirror and liked what he saw. He was an Adonis in the flesh as far as he was concerned and he certainly didn't mind taking some time out to look and dress his best. Especially when his 'hosts' were so insistent he try on some new clothing. It was fun throwing fashion advice back and forth.

"It's the buccaneer look. Little dash of pirate and just a tweak of President Schwarzenegger." Explained TRINE- E. Jack had to admit that it looked okay on him, but most things usually did. Though an all black outfit was a bit dull.

"Er, not sure about the vest. What about a little bit of color to lift it?" He asked the android ZU-ZANA.

"Absolutely not. Never wear black with color. It makes the color look cheap and the black look boring. Now, let's talk jackets." The android declared. Jack guessed that he couldn't argue the fact and smirked at how the Doctor would feel about that bit of advice, since all he wore was the same thing every day and maybe a different colored jumper. The captain pointed to the rack and indicated that he liked the first Jacket hanging. The android however disagreed and ZU-ZANA insisted,

"No, that's a bit too much Hell's Angel. I think I like the shorter one. Look, waist length, nice and slimming, shows off the bum." The Android then gave his bum a quick pat and Jack smiled that it worked for him.

This was fun but he really had to be going in case the Doctor and Rose were getting up to anything without him to watch. He was sure that by this point if Rose were with the Doctor that she would have told him by now, and he hoped that he could still spy on some of the action. From his observation, nothing made a new couple more randy than the knowledge that they had successfully reproduced. And if they were separated then he needed to find them and get their little band back together.

"Once we've got an outfit, we can look at the face. Ever thought about cosmetic surgery?" asked TRINE-E from across the room.

"I've considered it, yeah. A little lift around the eyes. Tighten up the jaw line. What do you think?" Declared Jack while feeling up the fem-bot, ZU-ZANA, in front of him. He was itching to go but never would turn down a chance to be mischievous.

"Oh, let's have a bit more ambition. Let's do something cutting edge." TRINE-E suggested as the android replaced its hand with that of a chainsaw while Jack was distracted by ZU-ZANA.

* * *

The contestants were now choosing the weakest link of the round to knock out of the game. Everyone but Rose was holding up a card with either the name 'Rose' or 'Fitch' on it. The attention now on Rose and her decision, Anne Droid asked Rose,

"So, Rose, what do you actually do?" Now that was a complicated question. She did a lot of things involving traveling. Exploring, planet saving, rescuing, and discovering. She was a professional Time and Space adventurer really. But how did she explain that in a way that didn't give away too much and didn't make her sound crazy?

"I just travel about a bit with two others. Bit of a tourist, I suppose…But my…" She finally answered in the broadest way possible.

"Another way of saying unemployed." Interrupted the android to which Rose answered 'no', quite affronted at the accusation, but the Robot clipped,

"Have you got a job?"

"Well, not really, no, but…" Rose had to admit and began to explain her situation but was interrupted again.

"Then you **are** unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide. For your sake let's hope that the baby daddy is well off. Why Fitch?" Said Anne Droid.

"Er, Wait how did you know I was expecting?!" Asked Rose in stunned surprise. The only other person she had told was Jack and she was in the process of telling the Doctor when this whole odd situation had begun.

"Transmat scan, tells them everything they need to know about the contestants' physiology just in case. Now answer the question!" Hissed Rodrick to a violated-feeling Rose, he clearly wanted to get this over with. Rose now very off kilter sputtered and turned her attention to the Android.

"I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all." Answered Rose quickly.

"Oh, you'd know all about that." Stated Anne Droid sardonically at the blond pregnant woman.

"Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch. I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone." Said Rose in a jovial voice, she was actually having a lot of fun in this surreal experience. That was until Fitch broke down in tears, now Rose felt sorry for her, but it was just a game. It was nothing to cry over.

"Let me try again. It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think." She cried out, her eyes watery with tears.

"In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but its votes that count." Explained the Android.

"I'm sorry. Please. Oh God, help me!" Begged Fitch to the heavens.

"Fitch you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne Droid said coldly as a barrel came out of her mouth and a beam disintegrated Fitch. And that was it. A woman had just died and the floor manager was going about her business as if the now dead woman had just left for coffee. The Floor Manager then declared,

"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes." Three minutes until the killing would begin again. Rose was still staring gob smacked at the spot where Fitch had been seconds ago. Finally she sputtered out,

"What's that? What's just happened?"

"She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated. Blasted into atoms." Said Rodrick unconcerned. Rose was horrified! This couldn't be true! What kind of game show was this? You don't kill your contestants, it's barbaric! Rose would have had to admit that on some reality show she would have liked to have seen some irritating contestant disappear, but not like this!

"But I voted for her. Oh, my. This is sick. All of you, you're just sick! I'm not playing this." Rose wanted to throw up and it had nothing to do with hormones. She had, without knowing it, voted to execute a woman. And on live television no less! And that was when she realized another sickly truth. If she was to have any hope of getting herself and her unborn child out of this game alive, she would have to win. What if she died right here without the Doctor ever knowing the secret she was about to tell him? She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she couldn't know enough trivia from the future to save her and her child. Rose was now very panicked, but the viewers, after having learned more about this new player, were even more excited for this new contestant Rose, because she had an awful lot to lose.

"I'm not playing! I can't do it. I'm not. Please, somebody let me out of here." Cried out Broff as he ran for the exit in terror, his nerves had finally broken under pressure. He did not get far however as Anne Droid just as it had done earlier shouted,

"You are the weakest link." Broff who had now made it half way across the studio room was then zapped and disintegrated by Anne.

"Goodbye." The robot finished and Rodrick whispered to Rose,

"Don't try to escape. It's play or die." Rose felt her heart drop into her stomach. There was no escaping this and how long could she last? Where were her friends? Where was her Doctor?

* * *

This was indeed now interesting television, thought the woman in the control room as the Weakest Link went to a commercial break. She looked at the petrified woman on the screen and her physiology scan had indicated that she was actually pregnant, which was odd since this was the first time she could recall of someone in such a condition being chosen as a contestant for any of the programs. In fact, she was under the impression that there might be safeguards to prevent such a thing from happening. It seemed almost a bit too mean to even her and she witnessed disintegrations daily. So many she had lost count quite a while ago. There was an obvious fear that people would complain about this later. But much to their surprise the ratings had appeared to have spiked a bit on the channel now that that little dramatic cat was out of the bag. If that was indeed the case and people like this newer high stakes television then they might have to bring more people like this person on. Still she had not lost or won yet so it wasn't known how people would respond afterwards. But all media indicators hinted that there was interest and if there was one thing that this organization understood it was ratings.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Hey folks. Hope you like the ride so far. Oi, the game show bits were wordy so I tried my best to cut them down. Feel sorry for Rose though, seems everyone is getting the big news except the Doctor. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter that I have lovingly dubbed, **The Killing Floor**. I wonder why I would name it that, hmmm? Comments are appreciated.


	57. Chapter 57 – The killing floor

**Complicated**

By the Plot-Thinens

**Chapter 57 – The killing floor**

While Rose had already discovered the peril she was in, the Doctor's biggest peril at the moment was being locked up with a bunch of whiny teens for who knew how long. He looked about the apartment-like building looking for some way to escape. He didn't know if the urgency was from the company or the desire to be within arms' length of Rose again, but he needed out and out now! Lynda called out to him in a worried voice from her spot on the couch and declared,

"Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to." He couldn't have cared less if he tried and brushed it off by saying,

"I'm busy getting out, thanks." To which Lynda replied in a meek voice,

"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished." The Doctor threw down his arms and sighed, as irritating as they were he still didn't think it was fair for them to be penalized because he had no desire to adhere to the idiotic rules of this place he had been thrown into. Or maybe he did want to stir up trouble and stated exasperated,

"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then." The Doctor reluctantly sat down on the couch next to Crosbie and the posh sounding man, Strood, who scoffed,

"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible."

"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck." Warned Lynda to the group as the cold unfeeling metallic voice began to speak. All of the housemates tensed up and held hands as well as their breath. Crosbie grabbed onto the Doctor's hand for support and the Time Lord looked on unamused by the whole stupid situation. What were they so worried about? It wasn't like if they got booted off the game show that it was the end of the world. As the robotic voice talked the Doctor just rolled his eyes and fidgeted about in his seat almost like a child who had been told to sit still for longer than they cared to.

"Big Brother House this is, Davina Droid. Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is…." Paused the female robotic voice for affect before saying the name, "Crosbie!" The name having been announced the Doctor leaned back on the sofa, bored as could be as the other housemates said their tearful goodbyes, thanks and apologies to Crosbie. Though to the Doctor, Strood's apologies sounded more false than anything else. Crosbie and her other two housemates quietly got up and made their way to the main door all the while the robot voice was saying something about saying goodbye in ten seconds before 'they' were going to 'get her'. The Doctor couldn't believe their dramatics. They were all on the brink of tears. It wasn't like they would never see her again. They were acting like she was going off to some other planet and never coming back. God did he miss his companions. **His** human companions actually made sense and more or less reacted to situations properly. These humans had mixed up priorities if they felt that this was the end of their lives to be thrown off the show.

"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House." Asked the robotic voice as the exit door opened revealing a short white corridor that opened to another door at the far end. Crosbie looked down the hall as if she were walking to her execution, she was obviously scared. But with dignity and quiet fortitude that resigned her to her fate, she looked to her housemate and said,

"Bye, then. Bye, Lynda." Lynda returned the farewell and Strood and Lynda made an arch with their arms that Crosbie walked under and out into the white hallway. They waved to each other, Crosbie more meekly and the door closed, leaving her alone in the small hallway.

"I don't believe it. Crosbie." Lynda cried, and the Doctor had enough of the drama.

"It's only a game show. She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. She'll be laughing." He shouted indignant at their lack of control over something as stupid as a reality TV game. Lynda looked at the Doctor incredulously for his lack of sympathy for Crosbie and his absurd declaration that she would have a future after 'the Big Brother House.'

"What do you mean, on the outside?" She snapped, but her thought was interrupted when she saw Crosbie's image appear on the monitor behind the Doctor.

"Here we go." Shouted Strood very anxious of what he knew was about to happen. The two rushed over to the sofa and sat down to watch Crosbie on the screen. They held each other for strength while the Doctor continued to lie back on the couch. He watched as Crosbie stood there on the screen still as could be. She was crying but it was not exactly exciting television and he asked in confused irritation,

"What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?" Lynda was very upset and the Doctor's attitude was not helping. She yelled at him to stop it and told him that it wasn't funny how he wanted things to be rushed along.

"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." Announced the robotic voice and then a beam came down from the ceiling and hit Crosbie. After a few moments, she vanished in a puff of smoke. The Doctor sat up astonished and asked,

"What was that?"

"Disintegrator beam." Swallowed Strood in a solemn voice. Lynda sadly explained,

"She's been evicted. From life." The Doctor was suddenly insanely worried for his wife and friend now.

"Are you insane?" Thundered the Doctor as he towered over the two diminished figures still mourning on the couch.

"You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?" Demanded the Doctor in disbelief. Lynda had had it with the Doctor's attitude and false accusations. She stood up and yelled,

"You're talking like we've got a choice!" The Doctor was surprised by this response and stated,

"But I thought you had to apply." Strood looked at the Doctor like he was the dumbest thing on two legs and growled,

"Don't be so stupid. That's how they played it centuries back." To which Lynda added,

"You get chosen whether you like it or not. Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's nonstop. There are sixty 'Big Brother' houses running all at once." The Doctor's eyes went large,

"How many? Sixty?" he sputtered. He could not believe that the human race had sunken so low. He had not heard or seen such a level of bloodshed or lust for death from a viewing audience since the roman coliseums! But even then it apparently used to be worse, as Strood said that they had to cut back so the show wasn't what it used to be. Did all humans delight in watching such sickening programming now?

"It's a charnel house! What about the winners? What do they get?" He demanded as his head swam with the magnitude of the situation.

"They get to live." Answered Lynda simply. She was beginning to wonder if this Doctor man was crazy, how could he live on Earth his whole life and not know any of this.

"Is that it?" He questioned, to which Lynda asked if that wasn't enough? What more could someone want out of a competition than to live? The Doctor would have been sick with worry if he had the time, he had to rescue his bride before he was a widower for real this time, ugh he had no time to care about his mind's slip ups now!

"Rose is out there. She got caught in the transmat. She's a contestant." Declared the Doctor feeling as if he wasted enough time as it was. Rose could be dead by now for all he knew! Suddenly the Doctor had a plan, he remembered something that Lynda with a 'y' had said earlier, but needed confirmation.

"Time I got out. That other contestant, er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?" He asked with haste in his voice.

"Damage to property." Lynda shot out.

"What, like this?" The Doctor inquired as he turned his Sonic Screwdriver to a camera and soniced it to smoky pieces. 'Hold on, Rose. I'm coming. Please don't be dead.' The Doctor thought to himself as he watched the camera bits fall to the ground in an ashy pile.

* * *

Jack stood before a mirror holding a tennis racket while wearing tennis whites. He swung the racket a few times but was frustrated with the look.

"No, I'm just not getting this. It's just too safe. Too decent. And you'd never keep it clean." Stated Jack resolutely.

"Stage two, ready and waiting." ZU-ZANA declared as she primed the defabricator.

"Bring it on, girls." Jack announced as he stood still in front of the defabricator watching his clothing disintegrate under the beam of energy. Jack once more stood naked in front of the two female-like robots, but there was a shift in the mood of the room.

"And now it's time for the face off!" TRINE-E stated. Jack smiled and squared off as he raised his fists in the air and asked,

"What does that mean? Do I get to compete with someone else?" However much to Jack's dismay the robot informed him that when she said face off, she meant it and started up her chainsaw hand. The Other robot revealed a large pair of scissor hands. Jack was obviously no longer having fun as he listened to the two robots debate over whether he would look good with a dog's head or no head at all. They also suggested other horrifying cosmetic abomination to ruin his already physical perfection.

"Nothing is too extreme. It's to die for." TRINE-E mused. Jack was not impressed at the display and warned.

"Now, hold on, ladies. I don't want to have to shoot either one of you." The Robots looked at Jack skeptically and TRINE-E stated,

"But you're unarmed!" And the other robot noted that Jack was naked. Jack then produced as if by 'magic' a small hand weapon from somewhere behind him. Just don't ask him to pull a rabbit out of the same place,' the Doctor might have said sardonically if he had been there.

"But. That's a Compact Laser Deluxe! ZU-ZANA declared in disbelief and TRINE-E, quite astonished asked where he was hiding it?

"You really don't want to know." Answered Jack as he continued to train the weapon on the two robots.  
"Give me that accessory." Demanded TRINE-E, but Jack shot off both robots' mechanical heads before they could take a step closer.

* * *

"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" Stated the android coldly to Colleen, who in defeat, closed her eyes and waited for death. The woman was atomized and the floor manager announced,

"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone." Rose could not believe that Rodrick had voted to kill off Colleen. Hell, Rose couldn't even believe that she was still playing this game. She thought that she would be dead by now and her soul felt tainted just from playing without the voting. But Colleen was smart. Why had she had to die? Rose leaned over to Rodrick and questioned,

"Colleen was clever. She banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?" Rodrick smiled at Rose as if it were obvious and smirked,

"Because I want to keep you in. You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation." Rose felt a flush of terror at the man's plan. And she wasn't stupid, just ignorant and out of her time! Then she thought again of what was at stake, not just her life but her offspring as well. She would have been infuriated at him speaking so cavalier about killing her and her baby off just so he could win money, but she found herself distracted by the last bit he had said.

"What do you mean? Who's Bad Wolf?" She asked scrunching her eyebrows in confusion. What was it with that name? It just kept popping up no matter where in time or space she went.

"They're in charge. They run the Game Station." Explained Rodrick in a condescending voice. Where did they pick this girl up from, the loony bin or a place for special people? Either way her dumb blond head was his gain in this game.

"Why are they called Bad Wolf?" She probed further, hoping that she could figure out the mystery. If this man really was as smart as he claimed, then maybe he would know.

"I don't know. It's just a name. It's like an Old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing, what does it matter?" He replied, sick of Rose's questions. Rose's amazement over those two words and their ability to follow her knew no bounds. If she could just live long enough she might one day be able to solve this mystery.

"I keep hearing those words everywhere we go. Bad Wolf." Mused Rose mostly to herself as she reflected on all the times throughout time and space she had come across those two words. She knew they were important and what a shame it would be to die before finding out how important they were. She figured that it was some kind of warning. From childhood those two words had been instilled in her as a cautionary tale about danger.

"Different times. Different places, like it's written all over the Universe." Huffed Rose in frustration. She wanted to know, the Doctor didn't think it was anything but Rose knew that it was. It had to be!

"What're you going on about?" Asked Rodrick frustrated with the stupid confusing woman. Rose simply stated,

"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this." Rose looked about scrutinizing and paranoid for anything she might be missing that would finally give her the answer to what 'Bad Wolf' was.

* * *

"The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!" Declared the robotic voice and the Doctor smiled and cheered as he happily ran to the opening door.

"That's more like it. Come on, then. Open up!" He cheered impatiently. Lynda couldn't believe the suicidal nature of this man and flabbergasted she shouted,

"You're mad! It's like you want to die!"

"I reckon he's a plant. He was only brought in to stir things up." Accused Strood, equally unbelieving that this man would just run to his death.

"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother house." Asked the mechanical voice as the Doctor merrily strode into the white corridor, one step closer to finding Rose. Lynda looked on in disbelief as she watched the Doctor disappear as the doors closed.

The Time Lord stood in the hall looking up at the ceiling and jumping up and down like an impatient child shouted,

"Come on then, disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?" If he had not been so worried for Rose, he might have lamented the lost opportunity to shout "Shoot me, shoot me now! But bullets weren't on the menu tonight, disintegration beams were. But he had a feeling that they most likely were not.

"He is, he's mad. He's bonkers." Cried out Lynda to Strood as she clung to the door frame knowing what would happen to the poor man.

"Disintegrate me. What are you waiting for?" He teased the beam outlet over his head. Finally the announcement came and the Doctor crossed his arms knowingly and did not take his eyes off where the beam would come out.

"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one…." Stated the robot.

Lynda closed her eyes, she knew what was coming and didn't want to look. She had not known the funny man long, but he had not been a boring person and it was a shame that his madness was going to do him in so early in his stay. This would have been the part where the Doctor would have died but the machine simply shut down and the Doctor remained.

"Ah, ha! I knew it!" Smirked the Doctor from the television screen as he threw up his arms in victory. Lynda heard the Doctor's cheer and opened her eyes happy that her new friend was still alive.

"You see, someone brought me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano. They want me alive!" Crowed the Doctor to all watching him as he began opening the door that would grant him freedom from the hideously decorated slaughter house.

"Are you following this? I'm getting out!" Gloated the Doctor as he worked his sonic and the door slid open. Lynda opened the door to the hall astounded by the amazing man who had laughed in death's face and lived. The door was open and she could get out if she wanted, but did she dare?

"Come with me." Implored the Doctor to his sweet new friend.

"We're not allowed!" Piped up Strood very afraid to break the rules. Lynda was not yet convinced and still looked hesitant. If the Doctor was to get his new friend out of this situation alive he would have to try harder. She had shown him kindness and he knew that that was not always a given among a species.

"Stay in there, you've got a fifty fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!"

"No, I can't. I can't." Squeaked Lynda very much a product of her environment. One more try and he'd have to leave the poor woman behind to her fate and he'd rather not. Too many people had already died today.

"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?" Questioned the Doctor and he held out his hand to her. Lynda after a moment more of hesitation smiled at the Doctor and took his hand. The two then ran out the door in what appeared to be a large storage room with many other doors like the one that they had just came out of. The Doctor looked about and realized that he recognized the layout and declared,

"Hold on. I've been here before. This is Satellite Five." The Doctor moved about the room poking at control panels and opening up power boxes on the walls full of outlets to the technological guts of the space station.

"No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth." Mused the Doctor as he finally managed to open another door and they walked through.

"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years." Stated Lynda a bit amazed at how behind on the times the man was. The Doctor dipped into his time sense and found the woman's guess quite accurate.

"A hundred years exactly. It's the year two zero zero one zero zero. I was here before, Floor one three nine. The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for tea." Explained the Doctor as he worked at more panels trying to get the lay of the land. Lynda could tell that the Doctor was trying to show off but he was trying too hard in her opinion, his joke was way out there. Even with medical technology the way it was now he could not be over 100 years old. He was having her on.

"A hundred years ago? What, you were here a hundred years ago?" She asked waiting for him to admit that he was telling tall tales. The Doctor answered the affirmation quite nonchalantly and continued to work.

"You're looking good on it." She smirked, still not believing him.

"I moisturize." Smirked the Doctor. He then looked over his sonic and stated,

"Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?"

"I don't know. I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside." Beamed Lynda as she followed the odd man to wherever he was going. The Doctor scanned a nearby door. He was getting irritated that he could not lock in on his friends with all the interference about the station. Not having time for specifics the Doctor asked,

"I had two friends travelling with me. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?" Lynda wanted to be helpful but that question was a tall order,

"I don't know. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games." Lynda explained to the Doctor. Curious he asked what other types of games there were.

"Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's nonstop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force, which is a nasty one. You get turned into compost. Er, Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded." Lynda droned on and the Doctor was horrified. Somewhere among this roulette of death were Jack and his Rose! He had to remain calm and gather some more intelligence that he thankfully had Lynda for before he went barreling into the compost heap.

"And you watch this stuff?" Accused the Doctor.

"Everyone does. How come you don't?" Asked Lynda genuinely perplexed at his lack of basic human knowledge. You would have to be living under a rock not to know any of this.

"Never paid for my license." He said flippantly to which Lynda in horror stated that you get executed for that.

"Let them try." He growled as he brought up his sonic screwdriver for effect.

"You keep saying things that don't make sense. Who are you though, Doctor, really?" questioned the woman but the Doctor just walked off and said that it did not matter. Lynda had to protest though as it mattered to her especially since she put her life into this stranger's hands.

"I'm just a traveler, wandering past. Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life." Explained the Doctor as he fiddled with a hand panel on the wall. He really did just want a life exploring with a little mystery now and then. He didn't go looking for trouble it just always seem to find him.

"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do? Just wander off again?" Lynda smiled her question. The Doctor said he would as fast as he could, and was surprised when Lynda suddenly asked if she could come along with him. She didn't know why but as she had demonstrated before the Doctor was just a man that you trusted. If you were around him long enough you would willingly follow him anywhere. Maybe he just had that sort of affect on people but Lynda wanted to go wherever he went. It wasn't like she had any other prospects after breaking so many rules. The Doctor looked at the woman and considered this proposition. As far as company went Lynda was not unpleasant and perhaps there was room for one more human on his TARDIS. She had helped him escape more or less and he was never one not to give a reward where it was due. A useful human was a rare commodity and he liked to hold onto useful humans when they did show up in his path. Although another part of his brain, possibly the John part, wondered if Rose would mind him inviting another woman onboard without talking it over first. He decided to ignore that part in favor of the part of his brain that screamed for the distractions that human companions brought to him. Besides it was his TARDIS he got to decide who stayed and who came along after all. If Rose had a problem with it then she would have to adapt. 'But what if she thinks you are replacing her?' A nagging part of his brain asked him, but he silenced it. That was just ridiculous, Rose would never think that. Rose and Jack weren't like jealous cats that he was bringing a new kitten into their world. And even if they were, cats got used to the new kitten eventually anyway. That was the end of that argument in his head about picking up a new companion. Companions were distractions for him to collect as he pleased and any distraction that kept his mind off the Time War was welcomed in his book.

"Maybe you could." He smiled to the hopeful woman.

"I wouldn't get in the way." Lynda promised with a soulful smile.

"I wouldn't mind if you did. Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out and finding my friends. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?" Asked the Doctor, Lynda spotted something at the other end of the room and got an idea on how to answer his question. Running over she flipped a breaker and it turned on, lighting up a sign that read Bad Wolf Corporation.

"Your lords and masters." Grinned Lynda and the Doctor just stared dumbstruck. Bad Wolf again! This was not just a coincidence anymore.

* * *

While the Doctor was in a foreboding mood, Jack's mood was a bit happier and he was a lot more dressed than before. He had taken apart the Defabricator and was fashioning it into a weapon. How appropriate since this show he had just ended was all about fashion.

"Compatible systems. Just align the wave signature. Attaboy! Got myself a gun. Well, ladies, the pleasure was all mine. Which is the only thing that matters in the end." Smirked Jack as he surveyed the broken remains of his robot 'hosts'. He then promptly left the room and ran for the nearest elevator. 'I have friends to find,' he thought as he checked his wrist computer for the most obvious life form, the Doctor.

"Two hearts, that's him. Which floor?" He demanded from his wrist computer, then getting the answer he entered the lift and was on his way to the Doctor.

* * *

The Doctor and Lynda had found an observation deck and it gave a perfect overhead view of the Earth.

"Blimey! I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth." Lynda said in awe as she looked down on her smoggy home. The Doctor looked over the cloudy and polluted Earth, it didn't look as he expected it to at all.

"What's happened to it?" he asked disbelievingly, it was a mess. More of a brown planet now than a blue one. Lynda looked at the Doctor not understanding what he was so upset about. What did he mean, 'what happened to it?'

"Well, it's always been like that. Ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside." She explained with her ever present smile on her face. Now things were making sense. It was too dangerous to be outside and breathe that air, so what do people do when they can't go outside? Stay indoors and watch television. He wondered if there was anything natural left on Earth that had not been killed off by pollutants. He shuddered at how humans were so short sighted about their planet's environment. People thinking, 'Who cares about the world after I'm dead? I'll be dead, what do I care?' Well he was now looking down on the sum of the inaction of every wasteful, polluting and environmental abuser who ever lived on Earth up to this point. What a lovely legacy of humanity, anyway he was preaching to himself. All this meant the current human condition was quite clear.

"So the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?" scoffed the Doctor. At the thought of the beloved television that she had been raised to love and worship she thought of all the channels that she had to choose from and proudly stated,

"Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."

"The Human Race. Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of… Mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?" Asked the Doctor interrupting himself and to his own shame eagerly asking about one of his favorite reality shows on Earth television that he had seen years ago in his travels. After all, the TARDIS did get everything from every time to watch on his home entertainment system.

"Oh, Bear With Me. I love that one!" Grinned Lynda. Her excitement and smile was infectious and the Doctor happily shot back,

"And me. The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath." Mused the Doctor with his new traveling companion. Yes even some reality television the Doctor had to admit he watched though he still didn't know why he did.

"Got in the bath!" Laughed Lynda confirming that she had seen the same edition. But as jovial as their mood was the Doctor turned it around in an instant.

"But it's all gone wrong. I mean, history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time I was here I put it right." Pondered the Doctor as he pointed at the planet below.

"No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight." Stated Lynda as if it was obvious what went wrong.

"But that was me. I did that." Said the Doctor aghast and not wanting to believe that he had set what he thought he did into motion.

"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell." Lynda explained rather sadly. The Doctor was floored and in a quiet voice of dawning realization said,

"Oh, my. I made this world." He had never stopped to think if there were any possible bad effects that could come of toppling the evil shadow overlord of the human race. All he had cared about was the humans not being puppets. He never stuck around for clean up so the governmental and economical repercussions had never even crossed his mind. Things were so messed up now was there even anyway he could help now, 100 years too late?

* * *

The contestant, Agorax, had put up his best fight, as all the contestants did, but he had been voted out and nothing was left but to die. As the disintegration beam hit him he screamed bloody murder as he turned to dust, unnerving Rose to say the least. After having disintegrated Agorax the robot turned its attention to the remaining two contestants.

"That leaves Rose and Rodrick. You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link." Declared Anne Droid. This was it, the final show down, and Rose had everything to lose if she did not win.

"Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now." Said Rodrick flippantly as he put down the name plate for voting. Rose was shaking like a leaf from adrenaline, and could hear her heart beat pounding in her ears. Through her fear she wondered if all this stress was bad for the baby and made an effort to try to calm her breathing before she passed out. 'Oh God, what did it matter she was going to die!' she screamed in her head before desperately grabbing a hold of her senses one more. She wasn't the only one counting on her to keep a cool head. Rodrick himself was not without some sympathy, he thought that it was unfortunate that the person he was squaring off against was pregnant but he wasn't going to die for that sake. He was much more intelligent any contribution that he could make to society he felt was far more valuable than Rose or her child ever could. He doubted that she was carrying a future rocket scientist. It might even be doing the species a favor by getting two stupid people out of the world. But still regrettable that she was pregnant.

* * *

Jack had followed the trail and when the elevator opened to the observation deck he was relieved to see the Doctor alive and well…but he did not see the blond that he expected.

"Hey, handsome. Good to see you? Any sign of Rose?" Asked Jack, he was very worried for Rose in an environment like this. It wasn't that he didn't think that she could watch after herself, he was just worried that because of her condition she might be a bit out of sorts. She had been sick when he last saw her and didn't know if she had improved since then.

"Can't you track her down?" Admitted the Doctor and he and Lynda busied themselves at an information terminal.

"She must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded." Declared Jack, as he could see that the Doctor was looking a bit worried and anxious to find Rose.

"If I can just get inside this computer. She's got to be here somewhere." Grumbled the Doctor in frustration. The Doctor was trying every trick he could think of to get the darn console to give him the information he needed to find Rose.

"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending." Warned Jack as the Doctor frantically worked at the console. Irritated because he felt that Jack didn't think he was taking this seriously, the Doctor growled,

"Do you think I don't know that?" Jack saw that his tone was not appreciated and he took a step back and buttoned up so the Doctor could work uninterrupted. The Doctor was twisting some wires when Jack got an idea and handed over his wrist computer to the Doctor.

"There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find her." Explained Jack and the Doctor happily and quickly took the device and began plugging it into the interface. He said a quick 'thanks' but did not slow down in his efforts. Not having anything else to do Jack brought his attention to the cute little blond in pigtails standing next to the Doctor. He put on the captain Jack charm and in a way only Captain Jack could, introduced himself. Once it was certain that she knew who the captain was, Jack found out that the Doctor's new friend was called, Lynda Moss.

"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss." Smiled Jack as he shook the woman's hand. She was not minding his attention at all.

"Do you mind flirting outside?" Groaned the Doctor impatiently as he tried to find Rose somewhere on this space station of death.

"I was just saying, hello!" defended Jack to the Doctor, but the Doctor just scoffed that for Jack that was flirting.

"I'm not complaining." Smiled Lynda flirtatiously to Jack,

"Muchas gracias." Smirked the Captain at the lady who had defended his honor. There was a loud circuitry noise and the Doctor growled,

"It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." Beyond frustrated The Doctor tossed the wrist computer to Lynda and kicked the console before starting to tear off the casing. Jack grabbed on to one side of the plating and managed to take off the front plate.

"This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else." Stated the Doctor as he worked at the very guts of the machine and gave the wrist computer another go at the system.

"Like what?" Asked Jack confused as to what the Doctor meant.

"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Rose is stuck inside it." Declared the Doctor in a worried voice.

* * *

Rose was feeling trapped. It was the final round of questions and her basic knowledge didn't stretch far enough to answer any questions. She had spent this whole time being quizzed mostly on people and places that either didn't exist yet, or planets that were not yet discovered by humans in her time. She just had to hope that any questions that came her way were from the way distant past and that she actually had bother to learn about them in her time. She had been going back to school for her 'A levels'. Why had she not taken history this semester instead of science, English and math? Anne Droid addressed Rose and just at being spoken to she shook with nerves like a cat ready to spring away.

"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which ancient British city?" Rose scrunched her face pondering the possible answer,

"Is it York?" Asked Rose cautiously. To her disappointment she had answered incorrectly and the right answer was Sheffield. Rose had to get points fast or she and her passenger would be dust in a few minutes. Where was the Doctor? She couldn't hold out much longer.

Back on the observation deck the Doctor's efforts had finally shown results and he shouted triumphantly,

"Found her. Floor 407." Lynda's face went ashen and screamed in fear for the Doctor's friend,

"Oh, my God, she's with the Anne Droid. You've got to get her out of there." The Doctor's face also went pale and the three of them ran for the lift as fast as their feet could carry them.

The android had asked Rodrick a literature question and he and answered incorrectly, still he was ahead of the game and was not extremely worried yet. Anne Droid turned its head to Rose and inquired,

"Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?" Rose was excited and relieved; she knew the answer and quickly shouted out,

"Boe! The Face of Boe!" Rose held her breath as she waited for confirmation; she was worried that she might have remembered wrong. She let out a sigh of relief when the android confirmed that she was correct. She could not take much more of this. Rodrick was now worried. He had not expected her to answer that question correctly. Rose might know enough to give him trouble. So close to the finish line, he was not taking any chances.

"Come on, come on!" Shouted the Doctor in frustration at how slow the elevator was moving, if Lynda's description of this game was right then every second counted and he needed to be there like yesterday! Which was a feat that under normal circumstances he could do but without his TARDIS he had to be reliant on this stupid slow as crap elevator?

"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?" Asked Anne Droid and Rodrick correctly answered, Hoshbin Frane. The man was nervous and it showed. Sweat was dripping off one side of his face as he waited for confirmation.

"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?" 'Damn it another future question' mourned Rose to herself. Seeking any form of comfort she placed her hand on her abdomen as she stood shakily behind the podium and combed her brain for any knowledge she might have picked up about this food dish she was sure she never heard of before. Having to admit defeat once again she sputtered out the name of the only planet that came to mind and answered,

"Er, is it Mars?"

"No, the correct answer is Lucifer." Rodrick gave a slight smile at the blond woman's foul up, but did not have long to do so as the next question was being directed at him.

"Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?" asked Anne Droid. Rodrick was stumped and he honestly was not sure of the right answer. Rose watched on quietly as the man took a deep breath and hesitantly answered,

"Would that be a goffle?"

"No, the correct answer is a paab." Stated the droid and it was Rose's turn again. Rodrick was now very worried. If the stupid blond next to him managed to get the next two answers correctly then she would win, but if she just got one they would be evenly match. Her getting both wrong was preferable and he hoped that the old sayings about blonds in this case would ring true.

"Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?" Asked Anne Droid. Rose had no idea at all. Meekly she answered shoes only to hear to her displeasure that the answer was hats. She had never in her life ever felt so unprepared for an examination. Rose was loathing herself right now. If only she had gone back to school sooner. Hell if only she had not dropped out in the first place. If only she had paid attention in class growing up. She was going to die and she had condemned her child to death simply because she had been too stupid to realize earlier in life that education was key to survival. And in this case how true that was. She would fight till the end, but she knew that in this battle of the wits she was unarmed. How had John even thought that she was intelligent in the first place? Because she did not feel very intelligent now. She silently said an apology to her unborn child and her husband as she pressed on to what most likely would be her death. She could only hope to tie now and who knew what the rules were for that in this age, maybe both of them would be executed. Anne asked Rodrick another question.

* * *

The Doctor, Jack and Lynda were on floor 407 now and rushing about looking for Rose.

"Game Room Six, which one is it?" Implored the Doctor as they looked for the right room. Lynda had a fast eye and shouted that the door was in the direction she was running. The Doctor followed, praying to whatever deity would listen that they were not too late.

* * *

"San Hazeldine." Answered Rodrick but his answer was incorrect.

"No. the correct answer is San Chen." Stated Anne Droid. Rodrick had gotten too many questions wrong and now whether he won or tied with Rose was up to Rose answering the last question wrong or right. If they tied it was on to 'Sudden Death' and he would rather not go there.

* * *

"Stand back, let me blast it open." Was Jack's solution to the locked door that led to where Rose was being held...hopefully.

"You can't. It's made of Hydra combination." Declared the Doctor as he pulled out his sonic and began working on the lock.

* * *

It was now the final question. The next question determined if Rose and her baby would live or die. No pressure. Rose looked like a deer stuck in the headlights as Anne posed the next question,

"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?" How was she supposed to know that, she shook her head and said the name of the only Icelandic City that she could think of.

"Reykjavik?" she questioned and she might have even pronounced it wrong. A long pause later and the droid declared,

"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura." Rose stared off into space in disbelief. She had unwillingly gambled with her life and lost.

"Oh, my God! I've done it! You've lost!" Gloated Rodrick in Rose's face. Rose felt as if her body had been dipped in ice water. She knew what would happen now; she had seen it happen many times already. If she was going to die she would have at least liked the last thing she saw to be a friendly face instead of a cold unfeeling robot and a man gloating in her defeat. It didn't even have to be the Doctor. She would not be that greedy. Just a genuine smiling face.

* * *

The Doctor worked the lock to the studio as fast as he could sonic but it still was not fast enough for him.

"Come on, come on, come on." Hissed the Doctor to the stubborn lock. Why couldn't it open faster, this should be child's play to him!

* * *

Rose had lost and now she was going to die, unable to accept such a fate over a quiz game or the death of her child, she began to shout off in a panicked voice,

"But I'm not meant to be here. And I'm expecting. You can't kill me and my baby! I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere he's always here! He wouldn't just leave me! Us!" 'Would he?' she pondered. Had he left her to such a fate? No, she had to believe that he would not leave her, especially if she had had the chance to tell him the truth. She couldn't believe that the Doctor would do such a thing as leave her to die willingly. She wished that she had not been so cowardly so at least the Doctor would have known he was going to be a father, or maybe this way it would be a kindness to him. Rose knew that the Doctor had lost a lot already, as an understatement, and she knew that he cared for her. Losing just her might be more bearable than losing herself and a child. No she couldn't think this way. She wasn't dead yet. Maybe she could still find a way out of this. Anne Droid continued to talk as these jumbled scared thoughts raced through Rose's adrenaline powered mind.

"Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits." Announced Anne Droid. Rodrick could not be happier, he was going to live and he would get money out of it! With a delighted grin on his face he declared,

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much."

"This game is illegal. I'm telling you to stop!" Shouted off Rose in a pathetic attempt to save her and her child's life. Little did she realize that this sort of reaction was a ratings booster and the staff did nothing to discourage the condemned woman.

'This was impossible', thought Rose. Sure that she had to be dreaming. She couldn't just die here like this so confused and without explanation. Rose could just not accept that the Doctor would leave her to die…Unless he was already dead. 'Oh God, what if he had already been disintegrated?' Rose thought. She felt her last bit of hope in her chest die. At least that was until she heard a voice that was her salvation.

"Rose! Stop this game!" The Doctor shouted as he flew through the now unlocked door. Rose felt her heart skip a beat and she had never been happier to see her husband. He had come to save her, as he always did. And if they weren't still in a dangerous place she would have pinned him to the wall and taken his virtue right there on television.

"Rose, you leave this life with nothing." Anne Droid droned on not at all bothered or distracted by the scene that the Doctor and Jack were making off camera as they approached closer to Rose.

"Stop this game!" Demanded Jack as he held his weapon at her floor manager and her staff. Little did Jack know that the floor staff although now compromised, had no control over the programming that Anne Droid was following.

"I order you to stop this game!" The Doctor shouted again.

"You are the weakest link." Stated Anne Droid as Rose ran away from the podium to shout for the Doctor and Jack to stay away from the Android's weapon.

"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" Warned Rose to the Doctor and Jack. The Doctor was relieved that Rose was alive and what she shouted barely registered, he was so happy to see her. As she ran towards him and his arms he couldn't wait to embrace her again and assure her that they had everything under control. But before Rose could get within the Doctor's reach, Rose was shot by Anne Droid's disintegration beam and faster than anyone could blink, she was just a pile of dust on the floor. Jack was horrified and screamed to the people in the room as he brandished his gun,

"What the hell did you do to her?" The rest of the world went silent and faded away as the Doctor stared in disbelief at the spot where Rose had been just seconds ago and the pile of dust left in the place where she had stood. He fell to his knees and leaned over the dust that was Rose's remains. He couldn't believe his eyes and ran his hands through the dust to test if it was even really there. He had to be dreaming. Rose had been killed right before his eyes and he had been powerless, him the great and powerful impressive Time Lord, to do anything about it. He had let this happen and Rose was dead. Dead, as in forever dead. Never to run by his side ever again. She would never be on the TARDIS again, eat with him in his kitchen, sleep in his bed, joke with him, tease him, drive him wonderfully crazy with her domestics, or make him laugh ever again. He had spent so much time finding ways to be irritated by Rose that when she was taken away he realized how much he loved every second of time he ever spent with her. 'No you can't be dead, not like this.' He mourned to himself as he thought of all that could have been and now never would. He mourned every one of those potential 60 plus years he would have had with Rose that were now gone forever. He would no longer have those extra years with Rose. At one point those years seemed like they would be so brief, but now it seemed like a thousand years of his life had been stolen from him. He slipped into a distraught mess of thoughts as images of Rose and the last image of Rose burnt themselves on his mind.

As the Doctor quietly mourned, Jack continued to take just the opposite approach and roared to the floor crew to,

" Back off!"

"I need security and I need it here right now! It's this lot." Shrieked the Floor Manager over her communicator as Rodrick hid behind her like a coward. Jack saw the guards surround the Doctor and ordered as he pointed his gun at them,

"Don't you touch him! Leave him alone!" The Doctor was unaware of what was going on around him and the security guard easily grabbed at the Doctor's arm and brought his gun to the Doctor's head.

"Sir, put down the gun or I'll have to shoot." The Guard ordered Jack. Jack was now surrounded by men in black armor and his ability to fight was compromised by them having an emotionally crippled Doctor at gun point. Jack was now powerless to do anything and began yelling his agony at the floor show staff.

"You killed her! Your stupid freaking game show killed her." Shouted Jack angrily at the sick people who had murdered his friend senselessly and didn't for some reason understand that. They shook with fear, how dare they feel they had the right to be scared for their own lives when they took so many lives as their daily job. Hell they had murdered two of his friends as far as he was concerned. And that was when it hit him that Rose had never gotten a chance to tell the Doctor…And now she never would. It was amazing how fast your mind worked when it was pumping with adrenaline, it seemed like he had all the time in the world to think of everything as the guards took him into custody. He had time to over to see that the Doctor was still trained on the spot Rose had been last. Not seeming to know or care that he was being arrested. Should he, was it even his place to tell the Doctor. Would Rose have wanted him to tell him in her place? Was it crueler or kinder to tell him? Well if he was ever going to, right now was not the time. They had trouble to deal with and maybe that was the sort of information that he should wait a few months to break to the Doctor if he did at all.

"Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate." Droned the guard but the Doctor barely noticed that he was being cuffed, all that was on his mind was Rose and how he failed her.

* * *

The Doctor was shoved against a wire mesh that was part of a prison cell and was patted down. Jack and Lynda were inside the cell already having been searched and at gun point. The guard pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver from the Doctor's pocket and looked at it confused. He turned the Doctor around, pointed the sonic at his face and looked into his eyes. As intimidating as he could be he questioned,

"Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir?" The Doctor did not answer. A few moments later found the three of them sitting against the wall of the cell on a cold metal bench as the guards loomed over them.

"Can you tell us how you got on board?" Demanded the guard, but he ignored him. Lynda was feeling terrible, not for herself. How much trouble she was in had not sunk in yet, she was just worried for her new friend. The woman who the Doctor had watched die back on the 'Weakest Link' had obviously meant a lot to him. You would have had to have been blind or lack any kindness at all to not notice the devastation in the Doctor's eyes as he had slumped down to the floor over the 'remains' of his friend.

"Just leave him alone. He just lost his friend!" Demanded Lynda though at this point it sounded more like begging. She had not seen him like this before, he had been all energy, confidence and bouncing about before and now the Doctor was quiet and still. Defeated as it seemed to her observation. There was no doubt in her mind that this Rose had been very precious to him.

"I'm asking him." Shouted the guard to poor Lynda as he clamped down on her face not too gently with his hand. Poor Lynda was now very scared, and clamped up. She shook as the guard turned his attention back to the man that he had not seemed to yet get the attention of and growled,

"Sir? Can you tell us who you are?" The Doctor said nothing and he was pushed in front of a screen to take mug shots in the front and profile.

In his very large mind a thousand 'what-if' scenarios tortuously played in his head. What if he had been faster? What if he had tried to find Jack faster so they could have started the search for Rose sooner? What if he had not stopped to talk about stupid shows with a bear in it? What if he had kept the fact that Rose might be in peril closer to the top of his mind as soon as he got out of the 'Big Brother' house? What kind of husband talked about TV shows while their wife was missing and assumed in danger? He really was alien, and he didn't mean his species. There was a term, 'humanity,' which referred to, in the human sense, all the good things that made up the human race. Their ability for compassion, kindness, self-sacrifice, humility, love, forgiveness to name a few. 'Find your humanity', humans would say to each other. Surely there was a Gallifreyan version, but it was often lacking in comparison to the human meaning and as a result he often fell short of the human one. It was amazing how the Doctor could look down so much on humanity, but at the same time, admire and hold them as a gold standard of morality. Rose had been the embodiment of humanity as far as he was concerned. She was the ideal of what it meant to be human, flawed but at the end of the day only wanting to do good, and now she was gone. Taken by all the inhumanity that her species also had to offer. Quite an ironic sense of duality in humans. But if he had been able to hold onto even a tenth of the humanity that John had possessed, then maybe Rose would not be a small pile of dust left on the ground and bits particles left on his hand and under his finger nails. Actually he thought that he might have in his daze, as he was being forcibly pulled away from what was left of Rose's 'body,' seen a man going over to sweep up 'Rose' with a dust pan. The memory of that only angered him more as there wasn't even now anything of Rose left to bring back to her mother, if he could ever face her. The Doctor was so lost in his self-loathing thoughts, anger and longing for Rose that he barely registered the guard talking to him,

"You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?" Now Lynda was really starting to feel the weight of what was to happen to them and she looked on at her companions in fear for what was to come. The Doctor could tell that the man was trying to intimidate him, but the little human was anything but scary to him. More like an annoying flea that needed brushing off. Done letting them think that he was of no more threat to them he waited for his chance. The guard stormed about basking in their false authority as a second guard unlocked the cage to let his colleague out. Now was their chance, the Doctor looked over to Jack who had been waiting patiently for the Doctor's signal.

"Let's do it." The Doctor said simply and Jack began to lead the fight out. The two guards stood no chance against Jack now that they weren't hiding behind a hostage like earlier and they were knocked out easily. Jack reclaimed his Defabricator while the Doctor retrieved his sonic screwdriver. Lynda seeing the guns left on the table pocketed the guard's weapons. She had not signed up for this but now it was clear that they had some fighting to do to get off this station and back home alive. The way she was going now, armed and fighting beat disintegration or a penal colony any day of the week. Though if she was starting to be sure of anything it was that this life the Doctor led was too dangerous for her and the first chance she got she would prefer to politely ask to be sent home.

* * *

Angry, regretful and turbulent thoughts continued to grip the Doctor's mind as they approach their destination in the elevator, Floor 500. How stupid John would have felt now. All that time worrying about his age and avoiding talking to Rose about the future and how much Rose was going to outlive him, never thinking for a moment that he might out live her. And he had, at least as a Time Lord, done so. As a Time Lord this was inevitable but he had not expected Rose to die now and so soon. He had been expecting and hoping for more time to spend with her than half a year when he became his Time Lord self again. He had never fully appreciated her and he had even, against odds and a Dalek, had had a second chance to be with her. They were becoming close. Not exactly like they were before when he was human, but differently. This time around their relationship had progress, at least on his end, slower and it was wonderful to fall for each other all over again. But that was a pipe dream doomed from the start he guessed. Rose was dead and all that was left was revenge and to stop the monsters in charge from senselessly killing another innocent life ever again. The Doctor knew that they most likely knew that they were coming, but he didn't care. Let them sweat and worry about what I'm going to do when I get up there. Let them be scared just like Rose had been. I can make them more scared than that without even trying.

"Oh, my God. Now we're in trouble." A man declared in a panicked voice on floor 500 as he watched the three unpredictable people rising up the elevator to 'greet' them.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Floor 500, you may now wee yourselves. Dead Rose + angry John persona + angry Doctor persona = The Doctor is in…for revenge. Thoughts and comments? Phew this one is over 10,000 words, I hope that is long enough for you. Make sure you have a comfortable seat so your legs don't go numb sitting down to read this one, yeah?


	58. CH58 Bad Wolf On the War path

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 58 Bad Wolf – On the War path of parting of the ways**

The elevator lift was the fastest and only way to the top which was where the Doctor needed to be. The door opened and the angry lot piled into the metallic box.

"Floor 500." Demanded the Doctor to his remaining companions as the elevator doors were closed up. The lift steadily made its way to its destination as the digital numbers on the control panel indicated. The Doctor locked and loaded his weapon. They would be arriving soon. This fact alone was sending the workers of Floor 500 into a frenzied panic. Pavale, one of the control staff sounded the alarm and shouted in terror,

"Clear the floor. He's on his way up here with a gun!" Who knew what horrors that the mad men coming up had in store for them. Fearing for their lives a woman standing near Pavale shouted to a woman wired up to the guts of the Game Station, the Controller,

"This is an emergency! You've got to close the lift!" The Controller seemed to neither care or was aware of the supposed danger and reminded staff in her slightly anguished sounding voice,

"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in delta point two."

"Never mind solar flares, he's going to kill you!" Warned Pavale to the Controller, who's inaction was making no sense and frustrating him. The lift arrived and the door opened as the staff held their breath and the three dreaded figures emerged. All armed to the teeth, the one in the heavy leather coat seemed the most feral and unpredictable. His cold icy stare scanned the room as his enforcer, a younger man, brandished two large fire arms.

"Okay, move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there." Ordered Jack as the Doctor moved up the way brandishing the modified defabricator at the floor 500 employees.

The Doctor had stormed into the room like a thunder cloud, dark, brooding, and obviously indicating that something dangerous was coming. The doctor reflected on all the hurtful things he had thought about Rose and her species and could not believe that he had had the gall to equate his own wife to a pet cat earlier. He felt self-loathing which only fueled his loathing of this station and how he wanted to rip it apart so that it and its master could never harm another living soul again. The Doctor wanted the person in charge to answer for their crimes. He had lost Rose now and what was the point in his holding back anymore. All of those words he had not dared to admit in front of Rose in private, or in public, because of his own insecurities didn't seem to matter anymore. They were just words now and he didn't know why he had wasted time avoiding saying that one particular word, wife. Looking at all the scared pathetic humans that aided in the assassination of Rose he venomously roared,

"I just don't believe it! I can't believe that my wife, the most wonderful person in this whole damn universe, was bloody murdered for the sick amusement of a bunch of snuff film fetishists! This is what the human race has become?! This is the damned species I have saved countless times from extinction?!"

'One of the damn bloody species that I sacrificed my own species to save!' thought the Doctor with very mixed emotions to say the least.

"All of you don't know how very lucky you are that I have humans I consider friends with me, because if it wasn't for them then your species would hold no redeeming qualities from this point on! Thank whatever thing you worship which is probably ratings at this point for that! Or you would know my wrath far worse! Who's in charge of this place?" Spat the Doctor as he looked about wildly at the scared little humans cowering away. The Doctor brought his gaze and his gun to face the controller woman who was center of the room and obviously in charge of broadcasting. She seemed to not even care that a gun was pointed at her and continued to frantically read off numbers and connect channels and signals to their allotted placed through her connection to the satellite.

"This Satellite's more than a Game Station." Stated the Doctor as fact, but again he was ignored by the controller still at her job. The Doctor had now lost his patience and demanded,

"Who killed Rose Tyler Smith?" He roared, to which the controller merely replied,

"All staff are reminded that solar flares…" The Doctor did not let her finish her statement but instead yelled over her,

"I want an answer!"

"…Occur in delta point one." She finished. Seeing that this was getting no one anywhere Pavale took the opportunity to inform the Doctor that,

"She can't reply. Don't shoot!" He raised his hands up in surrender to the leather-clad man as the Doctor fixed his gaze and gun on the man. The other employees hid behind Pavale as the Doctor rolled his eyes and scoffed,

"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot. Rose wouldn't want me to and I owe her too much to do such a thing now." The Doctor then tossed the large heavy gun to Pavale, who almost fell forward from its weight, and turned his head to one of the control panels which indicated that they had company coming. Not ready to deal with more stupid apes with guns, the Time Lord gave instructions to Jack,

"Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." Answered Jack and he went off to do just that. Having settled the matter of unwanted guests the Doctor asked Pavale,

"You. What were you saying?" Pavale looked at the man confused. How was it this nutter thought that he was still in a position of power to demand answers of him when he was now unarmed? He truly was mad or if he wasn't already this Tyler person's death must have brought him to this point and almost too meekly Pavale stated,

"But I've got your gun." 'A formality' the Doctor thought and not wanting to waste anymore time said flippantly,

"Okay, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?" The Doctor wanted to know why this person, the Controller, who by all means had the answer to his question could not actually answer him. Still holding up the heavy weapon with both hands the man shakily replied,

"She's er. Can I put this down?" Indicating that he wanted to put down the gun in his arms.

"If you want. Just hurry up." Said the Doctor with irritation. Pavale's 'customer service' training kicking in he said to the Doctor as he put down the gun,

"Thanks. Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognize your existence." The Doctor understood and asked,

"What's her name?" Pavale thought of that and to be honest it never occurred to him that she had once had a name and answered,

"I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known." The Doctor couldn't understand whose bright idea it was to enslave a five year old child so cruelly like that and was about to say as much when Jack piped up,

"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes." The Doctor told him to keep an eye on the guards in case they got clever.

Pavale was now very intrigued by these odd people, at the moment they did not seem violent anymore, just curious and it seemed that they were only forced to behave violently in response to the staff's efforts to impede that curiosity. But they were still angry about that dead woman and who knew where that could lead to. He wasn't ready to believe that this crazy man wasn't willing and capable of killing him. Not after seeing the look in his eyes from earlier. It was best to keep their captors' minds busy and this Doctor had brought up a valuable point,

"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station. I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years." Maybe this mad Doctor could solve the mystery that Pavale had been pondering for years working on this station. The Doctor told the man to show him, and the mood was only interrupted when Jack tried to access a room called Archive Six.

"You're not allowed in there. Archive Six is out of bounds." Stated the woman but Jack just held up his guns and mocked,

"Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" He opened the door and to his utter delight Jack saw the familiar blue box that had been his home for such a long time now. He happily walked up to the TARDIS, used his key on the door and walked in. Jack made his way up the ramp and only stopped momentarily when he spotted one of Rose's jackets hanging on the railing. 'That's going to hurt the Doctor later.' Thought Jack and debated moving it out of sight so that it would not be the first thing the Doctor noticed when he entered the TARDIS, but decided against it. The thought of Rose made him once again think of the baby as he cleared the ramp. 'They would have been lovely, a combination of his two favorite people, would have been fantastic. His thoughts had wandered too long. He had work to do if he wanted to help the Doctor solve the mystery of the satellite and avenge Rose and her offspring. He walked up to the console and after working at the monitor, scanner and keyboard for a few moments saw the results of his scan and declared,

"What the hell?"

* * *

"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen." Said the Controller again from her wired in spot on floor 500. The same woman who had yelled at Jack earlier approached the Doctor with false authority. He was not impressed with her or any human who worked on this floor and the Doctor wished the silly little apes would just huddle into a corner and pick fleas off each other for an hour.

"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified." The woman from earlier demanded of the Doctor, worried for herself and her colleagues.

"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day, including my Rose!" Hissed the Doctor with no sympathy for scared staff. The Woman felt the need to gulp at the last part of his sentence but then quickly regained her courage.

"That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs." Snapped back the woman in what was clearly a very well rehearsed response that she had no doubt taught herself to believe over the years so that she could sleep at night.

"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!" Growled the Doctor at the complaining woman. Lynda cringed at the Doctor's attitude and response to the woman. This was very serious now and not very much fun anymore. The Doctor had also made Lynda feel quite bad about having in the past enjoyed the programs that the Game Station provided. Perhaps if she ever got back to Earth, she wouldn't be watching the American program, 'Who wants to murder a millionaire,' after all. When she had first agreed to come with The Doctor she had been seduced by the idea that the curious and insane whimsical fancy of the Doctor would not end. She thought that his life was all fun and being on top of everything, but now she was seeing that things could get very real very fast when traveling with the Doctor.

The atmosphere after that was so thick it could be cut with a fork, but the Doctor's mood was interrupted by the sound of static and all the computer monitors going fuzzy. The Solar flare had hit the Game Station and the power dropped.

"That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal." Pavale assured the tense looking Doctor, not wanting him to think that anything was amiss. Little did anyone notice that the Controller was now acting quite different. She was looking startled and as if she had just been allowed to rest after being forced to run a marathon. She looked about with unseeing eyes and called out for the Doctor. This got the attention of the woman from before and she piped up to get the Doctor's attention.

"Whatever it is, you can wait." Said the Doctor annoyed and dismissively his back turned away from the controller. The Woman was not deterred and insisted,

"I think she wants you." The Doctor seeing that the Woman was looking passed him, turned his head and saw the Controller was indeed looking for him.

"Doctor? Doctor? Where's the Doctor?" The Controller called out desperately.

"I'm here." The Doctor answered as he ran up to her. The Controller heard the Doctor but continued to stare on blankly ahead.

"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you." Said the Controller fast and obviously so scared of being heard by something she didn't want hearing her.

"What do you want?" Asked the Doctor now that the Controller had his attention he might as well listen to what she thought was so important for him to hear. She seemed so like a scared rabbit that might duck back into its burrow any minute.

"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright." Explained the Controller as to why she could now speak mostly freely.

"Who are your masters?" Inquired the Doctor, now very intrigued.

"They wired my head. The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me." Said the Controller her sentences ending with a slight tone of hope for what the Doctor could do to help.

"My wife died inside your games." Growled the Doctor but the Controller dismissed it quickly and claimed that it did not matter. She had other things to speak of and they were wasting time.

"Don't you dare tell me that!" Roared the Doctor at the Controller. Uncaring that he was angry and so desperate to get out what she could and had to say, the woman pressed on.

"They've been hiding. My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years." Rambled the Controller in a voice that sounded more like she was telling a mythological tale than actual facts.

"Who are they?" Asked the Doctor confused as to whom she was referring to as her masters.

"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my masters." Described the Controller to the Doctor. She was trying to be as descriptive as possible, but it was not in the way that the Doctor wanted. She could not, and tried again to give away as much as she could about her masters and hoped that that would be enough to help the Doctor.

"Who are they?" He demanded again, but again she seemed to ignore the question in favor of giving more back-story to describe her mysterious masters and how she came to realize that she needed to find the Doctor.

"But speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor." She declared in her panicked and hurried voice.

"Tell me, who are they?" The Doctor shouted again, through with guessing games. But it was too late the power had come back on and the solar flare was over. She could no longer speak freely and went back to work controlling the satellites' transmissions and rambling off numbers. The Doctor realizing what had happened turned to Pavale and demanded to know when the next solar flare would happen.

"Two years time." Answered Pavale meekly.

"Fat lot of good that is." Groaned the Doctor, never another solar flare when you need one.

"Found the TARDIS." Announced Jack and he ran from the Archive Six room and to the group.

"We're not leaving now." Commanded the Doctor, knowing that they had a very big and possibly dangerous mystery to solve. Rose had died for this mystery, for this reason that the Controller had brought them here and he owed that much to Rose and himself to find out why Rose had died. He needed to know or the question would haunt him for the rest of his days. The Doctor misunderstood Jack and he clarified,

"No, but the TARDIS worked it out. You'll want to watch this." The Captain pulled Pavale form his work console and then indicated to Lynda that he needed some assistance.

"Lynda, could you stand over there for me, please?" Smiled the Captain politely as he sat down at the work console. Lynda was now very uncomfortable in the intense hostage situation she found herself party to and very sheepishly declared,

"I just want to go home." Jack smiled off her more or less polite refusal and with a forced grin stated,

"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can?" Lynda obeyed the order and stood where she was told. The Doctor was intrigued and wondered what it was Jack was getting at. Jack then grabbed the attention of the room and announced,

"Everybody watching? Okay. three, two, one." Jack pushed a button, a beam came down over the woman and Lynda vanished in a puff of smoke.

"But you killed her!" The Doctor chocked out, aghast at what Jack had just one to poor Lynda with a 'y'. Jack did not seemed moved, but simply smirked,

"Oh, do you think?" Another beam was activated by Jack and Lynda materialized right next to where the Doctor was standing. She seemed off balanced and confused but obviously not dead!

"What the hell was that?" Lynda asked, not sure what had just happened. Jack was now full of joy and couldn't shoot out the words fast enough as he cheered,

"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system." Realization and hope was starting to creep up on the Doctor as Jack continued,

"People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space. Doctor, Rose is still alive!" Jack was happy. The Doctor was overjoyed and shouted his delight. The two men shared a very rare but very appropriate hug happy with the news. He wasn't yet a widower! The Doctor knew now that his Rose was still alive and he just had to find her. Jack was relieved and gleeful that Rose could still have her chance to tell the Doctor the good news. Jack had been dreading the idea of telling the Doctor what would only be bad news, but now it still had the chance to be the most happiest of news the Doctor had heard in quite some time.

* * *

Rose's still form lay on her back on the cold metallic floor of large room that resembled some kind of alien honeycomb and seemingly empty of any other life. She started to wake up first registering the cold floor and if she had been more lucid she might have wondered if she should start getting a ticket stamped for every time she woke up like this. Rose became fully wake and she could sense something approaching her. She looked up and quickly shuffled to her feet. She was now very afraid and knew that she needed to leave and fast if she wanted any hope of continuing to live.

"No, it can't be. You're dead. I saw you die!" Declared Rose in a panic and she scurried away backwards and unfortunately found herself up against a wall. What appeared to be a sink plunger then blocked her way when she tried to run off to the side.

* * *

The Doctor had a wife to find now and not a second to lose, for a brief moment his pessimistic thoughts wonder if the transmit didn't just eject losing contestants into space, but he smashed that down quickly. There was no reason to transmit people anywhere but a place that they could survive if they were to bother with transmatting at all.

"She's out there somewhere." Shouted the Doctor as he ran to the main terminal to find out where the transmat signals might be sending the contestants. Somewhere in that inky blackness was the woman who had stood by him when a sane person would have told him to sod off and gone home. He knew he didn't deserve her but she deserved every effort he could make and more to keep her safe. He would bring her back alive and well if he had to move every star in the universe to do it. The Doctor started up the scanner, and began to assess the technological limitations he had to work with. He had found his bearings, but then the Controller so wanting to help and also put a stop to her masters, shouted out,

"Doctor. Coordinates five point six point one…" The Doctor realized what she was doing and risking and begged her,

"Don't, the solar flare's gone. They'll hear you." But the Controller did not care and jeopardizing her own life continued to read off the coordinate where the Doctor could find her masters and his Rose. She could feel the anger of her masters but went on shouting,

"Point four three four. No, my masters, no! I defy you! Sigma seven seven…." That was enough out of her and her master activated the transmat beam over her head, the Controller screamed and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Doctor was powerless to help her and feeling so guilty but at the same time so grateful stated,

"They took her." Jack raced up to the work station next to the Doctor and began helping in the process of narrowing down where the transmat signal was dropping off people. It was an awesome task, even between a Time Lord and as 51st century man. Maybe they could save a lot more people too, if they hurried fast enough. Pavale meekly walked up to the captain and handed him a crystal-like device.

"Look, use that. It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions." Declared the man and Jack happily took the data. Now in a better mood, Jack noticed that the man wasn't half bad looking and in a way only Jack could said,

"Nice, Thanks. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way." The man quite happily introduced himself as Davitch Pavale. To which Jack exchanged further pleasantries. The Doctor thought that Jack was once more getting off topic and in a hurry to find Rose gruffed,

"There's a time and a place." Pavale's coworker was very confused by this development and of the turning of her understanding of things upside-down and asked,

"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" The Doctor was glad that the ape was finally catching up and declared,

"Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."

"Click on this. The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system." Announced Jack, having zeroed in on the location of the transmats he handed the Doctor what appeared to be some kind of futuristic remote control to the giant holo-monitor in front of them. A visual of apparently empty space appeared and the female coworker of Pavale noted that there appeared to be nothing there. The Doctor was not fooled by this illusion and insisted,

"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission there's another signal." Pavale asked what that signal was doing and the Doctor was only too happy to explain,

"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal…" The Doctor did just that and what was once empty space now had a large flying saucer appear on the viewscreen. Upon pulling back the visual it was then revealed that it was not one spaceship but two hundred! The Doctor was for a moment speechless, he was so much in shock from what he saw. Never in a million years would he have guessed who was really behind this conspiracy to control the humans.

"That's impossible. I know those ships. They were destroyed." Said Jack with fear and disbelief in his voice.

"Obviously, they survived." Mouthed the Doctor as memories of the Time War jumped to the surface of his mind. All he had sacrificed and yet like cockroaches they still lived. He was scared of what this meant.

"Who did? Who are they?" Questioned Lynda who was, because of the efforts from people like the Doctor, completely clueless as to who this enemy was.

"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them." Stated the Doctor with dread in his voice.

"Half a million what?" Asked Pavale. The Doctor took a deep breath and said,

"Daleks." And that was where Rose was now. With the Daleks. The Doctor feared for Rose, oh how he feared for Rose.

* * *

Aboard one of the many now revealed spaceships the metallic monstrosities rushed about on the floor. They had been spotted and now they had to deal with the humans and any threat that their protector, the Doctor would present.

"Alert. Alert. We are detected." Warned a Dalek in its metallic voice to its compatriots.

"It is the Doctor. He has located us. Open communications channel." Shouted another Dalek. At the mention of the Doctor's name Rose felt her heart skip a beat, she looked about confused and frightened. She had never seen this many Daleks before in one place. Hell, she had only ever seen one and that was enough to see the destruction and death that they could cause. To see an entire ship full of them was mind blowing and she wondered how on Earth was she to get out of this mess alive and maybe unharmed. Rose was approached by the first Dalek who brandishing its fearsome plunger at Rose ordered her,

"The female will stand. Stand!" Not wishing to have her face sucked off, Rose complied. She didn't know what was going on but she didn't have long to wait. As soon as she stood up a holo-viewscreen popped into view with a visual of Floor 500 on it. And Rose saw the Doctor, this gave her hope but she was still scared out of her mind.

The Floor 500 staff stared on at the Daleks not knowing what to make of them. The Doctor did not notice the Daleks first, he had first locked in on Rose and his hearts too each skipped a beat. She was surrounded by Daleks. He had to keep cool about this. Rose was not out of the woods yet and he looked on with a guarded and predatory gaze. The Dalek's voice crackled over the holo-transmission and croaked,

"I will talk to the Doctor." The Doctor was very uneasy with the situation but did his best to look unimpressed by the metallic looking creature.

"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" Smiled the Doctor sarcastically as he waved to the screen. The Dalek neither knew or cared about sarcasm and continued to voice orders to the Doctor. In a loud and intimidating shout the Dalek declared,

"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene." 'Oh, I sure as hell am going to intervene, you have my wife,' Hissed the Doctor to himself.

"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" Asked the Doctor neither convinced nor planning to obey the Daleks' commands. Why should he start listening to Daleks now?

"We have your associates." Announced the Dalek as it turned its eye stock to Rose. Rose's blood now went frigid for two reasons, first the Dalek was looking straight at her and second, The Dalek she felt had blabbed out her secret. She looked to the Doctor. Still it wasn't said too obviously. It would be impossible for him to make the conclusion that she was pregnant on that statement alone and her throwing up earlier, yeah? She wondered. The Doctor might have thought that she was afraid of the situation and she was, but she was also looking to see if the Doctor had got what the Dalek was saying. For what little relief it might have given in this situation, he appeared to have not. If Rose ever got out of this, she could still tell him on her terms. She was also wondered why the heck was she was so worried about that when a spaceship crawling with Daleks had their weapons trained on her? That was the least of her troubles at the moment! What she should be focusing on was somehow keeping herself and endangered species, which happened to be her baby, inside of her alive. Easier said than done right now.

'Was this Dalek confused or was it so damaged after the Time War that it forgot how to count?' thought the Doctor. The Time Lord could have sworn that it used a plural tense to describe Rose and unless he had an invisible companion, Rose was the only one there. Still not best to question the reality of crazy people when you are trying to deal with them. The Dalek made its major threat now through the holo-vid that cut the Doctor to the core,

"You will obey or they will be exterminated." Rose cringed at the very mention of the word exterminate, the horror of that word had been burned into her brain for all time. The Doctor saw her flinch and his hearts clenched for her, she was so obviously scared, but putting up a brave front. 'Why again with the plural statements? You can't have double vision with one eye stock. Must be a defective Dalek if things weren't bad enough', the Doctor thought, but worry over Rose took priority over all things and he quickly put that thought aside. And how dare they threaten Rose, they could not do that. They literally could not do it because he would not allow them to hold any power over him or Rose. And to veto the Dalek's whole threat stated,

"No." Everyone looked at the Doctor surprised. They were under the clear impression that this woman meant everything to the Doctor and for him to say that he would not cooperate to save her was so alien to them. Didn't he care? Even the Daleks were confused they had assumed that this female and its offspring were of the highest importance to the Doctor. Perhaps they were wrong and did not have as powerful a bargaining chip as they thought. Or maybe the Doctor had become a hair more like them after the Time War. Rose looked on stunned, she must have heard wrong. The Doctor was not going to try to save her. She could not believe it and stared in disbelief at him. Didn't he care for her or was this too great a threat for him to risk a Dalek invasion on the whole of Earth over her? It was understandable but that didn't mean it hurt any less. Would he have tried to save her if she had made her condition known to him? Maybe it was better that way, he might be emotionally compromised otherwise and as much as Rose wanted to live she knew that her life was not worth the life of her whole species. If the Doctor could have heard Rose's thoughts then he would have been very hurt by Rose thinking that Rose in trouble alone didn't emotionally compromise him. He was emotionally compromised as all hell and the Dalek would see what such a Time Lord looked like.

"Explain yourself." The Dalek asked, wanting to know why he was defying all expectations by not caring for, what scans revealed to be his mate. The Doctor now with a hint of anger on his voice replied,

"I said no." The Daleks did not understand, 'no what?' No he would not cooperate? No he did not want the Daleks to continue their plans? No, the human would not be exterminated? What? The Dalek looked to the Doctor confused as ever and asked,

"What is the meaning of this negative?"

"It means no.", gruffed the Doctor. The Daleks did not get his logic, they knew he valued the human woman and wanted her back. They had to make him see sense and remind him what was at stake.

"But they will be destroyed." It shouted, but the Doctor just stood up quickly and shouted his firmest 'NO!' to the Daleks. The Doctor was through with games with this idiotic one minded species and decided it was time to put the fear of the Time Lords back into them. They needed to be reminded of who they were crossing.

"Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her." The Doctor crowed in a proud and strong voice that made Rose, and even a few other people in the room with him, melt at the sound. As if it were as obvious and unavoidable to happen, the Doctor shouted his plan to the hated species.

"I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet. And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!" The Doctor roared in righteous fury. The Daleks were stunned, by their calculations what the Doctor had said was impossible, yet he said it with such conviction and certainty that they could not believe it to be false. The lead Dalek threatening Rose piped up its voice in an attempt to logically contradict the Doctor's statement,

"But you have no weapons, no defenses, no plan." The Doctor grinned manically at the Dalek and in a voice that would make a demon run crying, grinned,

"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death." It was not a question it was a declarative statement. The Doctor's demeanor then swapped quickly as he locked eyes with Rose and called out to her.

"Rose?" He asked, getting her attention with a caring look. In an energized and somewhat breathy voice the human woman replied,

"Yes, Doctor?" He then said as if it was as simple as him pulling around the car for her,

"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor put up his hand and then used the remote to shut off the transmission. 'God I want to shag his brains out right now.' Though Rose in spite of herself and the situation she was in. That was probably the hottest thing she had ever seen her husband do. Unfortunately, Rose's pleasant thoughts were crashed to a halt by the unforgettable reminder that she was surrounded by thousands of metal killamjigs, called Daleks.

* * *

Panicked would have been an understatement when asked to describe the Daleks among Rose right now. They were all out readying for battle as if they were facing an army of a million men armed to the teeth. What exactly had the Doctor done to make them so afraid of him? Rose thought as one of the Daleks shouted,

"The Doctor is initiating hostile action." To which another chirped,

"The stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" Another Dalek shouted that the Doctor must be exterminated and no sooner had that one Dalek said the word did every single Dalek on the ship began shouting that over and over again. Rose felt that she should cover her ears to drown out the terrifying and loud noise, but she was too shocked by the vast number of Daleks primed to kill surrounding her. The Daleks moved about focused on their task and for a moment Rose had hoped that she was being ignored or forgotten about in light of the new situation, but then a Dalek rushed up at her and shouted to her in a demanding voice,

"You know the Doctor. You understand him. You will predict his actions." The Dalek continued to menace Rose with its plunger arm making her uneasy to say the least.

"I don't know! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Hissed Rose at the giant pepper pot-like monster as she leaned her stomach away from the probing arm. The Dalek had no time for small talk with the mate of the Doctor and as they had stated before, they were not ignorant to their captive's condition. They had detected all about her physiology when she had been transmatted to them. They did not, however, know that the Doctor was ignorant of it. They figured that they had the best knowledgeable hostage to use against the Doctor possible. The Dalek knew that humans were especially fond of their offspring and often threatening their young was an easy path to making any adult human do what they wanted and vice versa. Once they had even used such a technique to make a family of test subjects walk willingly to their deaths, they had mentioned something about having been contestants on a family game show.

"Predict! Predict! Predict! Or your offspring will be exterminated!" Shouted the Dalek at the terrified Rose. She didn't know what was scarier, being surrounded by Daleks or being surrounded by Daleks who also knew she had someone else to consider. Rose was not able to respond as another Dalek interrupted them and announced,

"TARDIS detected in flight."

"Launch missiles. Exterminate." The Dalek shouted as a reply as it turned its attention back to Rose. Rose was horrified that they were planning to attack the TARDIS. That beautiful old girl was helpless and had no means to defend herself. It didn't even have any guns on it for defense let alone attack!

"You can't! The TARDIS hasn't got any defenses. You're going to kill him." Begged Rose to the unfeeling monsters not to kill her husband and home.

"You have predicted correctly." Declared the Dalek to Rose, had it been mocking her all along? Like it already knew the answer but just wanted to tease her? Rose looked about the room seeing no way she could help or warn the Doctor and couldn't help but feel great despair and a sense of powerlessness.

The Doctor ordered Pavale to evacuate the Game Station and to inform Earth of the threat. Then he had not walked back to the TARDIS, or ran or even skipped. He had all but magically materialized back into it, Jack thought, the Doctor had moved so fast. They had piled in and like a mad man the Doctor and started up the TARDIS engines to greet the Dalek fleet head on to save Rose. Jack barely had time to obey the Doctor and get started on the extrapolator, which they would need working if they hoped to last longer than a minute again any enemy attacks that came their way.

"We've got incoming!" Shouted Jack to the Doctor as he observed the monitor. And in what felt like seconds two Dalek missiles struck the TARDIS, but rather than blowing up the time and spaceship the missiles exploded into a big fireball in the vacuum of space. The TARDIS did not have offensive weapons but it did have defensive capabilities.

"The extrapolator's working. We've got a fully functional forcefield. Try saying that when you're drunk." Smirked Jack as the Doctor began the materialization sequence on the TARDIS. He needed it to materialize in a very specific place. He found Rose's bio signature and locking in on it he declared,

"And for my next trick." The TARDIS materialized around Rose and unfortunately the nearest Dalek standing right beside her. Rose stared in confused fascination as the Doctor's 'ghost' appeared to materialize before her and eventually became solid along with the familiar interior of the TARDIS console room. The Doctor's face changed to worried concern as he realized who the uninvited guest she was bringing with her was. Jack began to ready his defabricator gun as the Doctor shouted to her,

"Rose, get down! Get down, Rose!" Finally understanding what the Doctor wanted Rose dived to the side and hid behind a coral strut as the Dalek shouted,

"Exterminate!" The Dalek then fired at the Doctor. To the Doctor's great luck the metal monster missed and Jack took out the Dalek with his modified Defabricator. The Dalek destroyed and the threat gone for the moment Rose shouted to the Doctor,

"You did it." The Doctor quickly walked up to Rose and the two embraced in a strong hug and Rose smiled,

"Feels like I haven't seem you in years." The Doctor not letting go of the hug yet grinned,

"I told you I'd come and get you." Rose pulled back and then gave the Doctor a loving kissing on the lips, that left the Doctor momentarily dizzy, before saying,

"Never doubted it." The Doctor on the other hand had not been as confident in his ability to rescue Rose from a fleet of 200 Dalek warships and admitted,

"I did. You all right? Last I saw you, you were feeling a bit under the weather." The Doctor looked her over for any injuries as Rose informed him that she was fine and if he was doing alright as she adjusted his leather lapel. The Doctor turned away from her and walked up to the now dead Dalek as he answered,

"Not bad, been better." The Doctor couldn't waste time right now. He still had the Daleks to deal with even if Rose's company and touches were far more pleasant. Rose wanted to tell him what she was trying to say before all this happened, but now inside a Dalek ship surrounded by thousands of Daleks was not the right time. He did not need distractions if they hoped to live through this. The growing somber mood was interrupted as Jack, feeling left out asked,

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" He then approached with his arms wide, and Rose smiled.

"Oh, come here!" but Jack quickly turned away from her and pointing to the Doctor smirked,

"I was talking to him." Rose got Jack's joke and laughing the two hugged.

"Welcome home." Smiled Jack as Rose confessed that she was afraid that she would never see Jack again either.

"Oh, you were lucky. That was just a one shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." Not letting go of Rose, Jack pulled himself close to Rose again and whispered into her ear,

"I'm so glad that you're both safe. We…we thought you were dead, both of us. I didn't know what I was going to tell him, if anything at all about..." Rose felt sorry for the spot that she had almost put Jack into and exhaling she said,

"Well you don't have to, because I'm here and I'm going to tell him…Just I don't think now is good. What with the Daleks invading, yeah?"

"Say no more, I just hope we live long enough for you to get that chance." Said Jack in a slightly serious voice, not wanting to let go of their victory high just yet. Rose walked over to where her husband was looking over the scrapped and melted remains of what was once an unstoppable killbot. Regarding the Dalek as it lay dead, Rose asked the Doctor,

"You said they were extinct. How comes they're still alive?" Jack took a closer look too and added,

"One minute they're the greatest threat in the Universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space." Without taking his appraising eyes off the monster and its casing the Doctor answered,

"They went off to fight a bigger war. The Time War." The Doctor had to know what he was up against. He was searching for weaknesses, modification, anything that could be used as a weakness against the new threat. Know your enemy, the Dalek's knew him but he had to catch up on them. From what he could tell aside from some upgrades to the outer casing and defenses, this Dalek was not that different from the ones he faced. That was good, that meant less surprises. He already knew all the upgrades they had from the time war and this one didn't seem to deviate that much from what he remembered from the war. The only real difference was the Dalek itself. It looked strange and mutated from what he views from past experience as normal. Maybe that was partly to explain its return from extinction.

"I thought that was just a legend." Said Jack in disbelief that the Time War was real. The Doctor wished that it had only been that but it wasn't. Rose looked on as the Doctor went to the bad place she had seen his eyes wander off to so many times before. Places that even her touch had a hard time pulling him back from.

"I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them. I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing." Said the Doctor bitterly.

"There's thousands of them now. We could hardly stop one. What're we going to do?" Asked Rose with great concern. The Doctor snapped out of that bad place, the worried voices and heart rates of his companions had brought him back and he needed to keep up their spirits if they were to be of any use to him or themselves. Never let anyone who is depending on you know that you don't have the upper hand. He stood up straight and as he clapped his hands together he said in a jovial voice,

"No good stood round here chin wagging. Human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers. Let's go and meet the neighbors." He then skipped to the door much to Rose's horror and she raced to catch him.

"You can't go out there!" She warned her husband as he cleared the doors and walked out onto the Dalek ship. The Doctor was instantly greeted with a chorus of Daleks shouting,

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" But their death rays seemed to bounce right off the Doctor. Jack looked on in amazement as he held Rose back using himself as a blockade to keep Rose from stepping out. Rose looked on in wonder as the Doctor seemed to not be frightened in the least by so many Daleks. He was amazing and fantastic and she could never question that.

"Is that it? Useless! Nul points. It's all right, come on out. That forcefield can hold back anything." Smiled the Doctor back to his companions.

"Almost anything." Cautioned Jack as they walked out of the TARDIS. The Doctor looked irritated and snarked back to Jack,

"Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that. Thanks." Jack said his apologies and walked back to the TARDIS, he and Rose pasted their backs to the front of the TARDIS like a security blanket as the Doctor surveyed the enemy. Then putting on his best and scariest storyteller voice the Doctor announced to the Daleks,

"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld? The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions but I reckon right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left, and that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? So tell me. How did you survive the Time War?"

"They survived through me." Answered a booming voice and the Doctor stunned turned to see where the voice was coming from. The lights off in the distance then came on to reveal a large apparatus, which on closer inspection contained a giant Dalek casing. Floating inside a transparent bulb was a blue-skinned one-eyed mutant. It was as if it were sitting on a throne, heck that was probably how they designed it to look. The Doctor new this royal looking figure well and without fanfare told his companions,

"Rose, Captain, this is the Emperor of the Daleks." In a croaking loud voice the Dalek Emperor said,

"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."

"I get it." Hissed the Doctor unimpressed. Infuriated by the Doctor's insolence the other Daleks shouted over and over like a broken record player,

"Do not interrupt!" The Doctor had no more patience left for the annoying Pepper pots and turned fast towards the hated aliens.

"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So if anybody's going to shut up, it's you!" Roared the Doctor and the Daleks backed away in fear of the terrible god-like being in front of them that a little seed of emotion left inside of them feared as one might fear the devil.

"Okey doke. So, where were we?" Smiled the Doctor as he turned back to the Emperor.

"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed. They all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured." Explained the Emperor as Rose, the Doctor and Jack looked on with disgust.

"So you created an army of Daleks out of the dead." Replied the Doctor, he understood everything now.

"That makes them half human." Gasped Rose.

"Those words are blasphemy. They are not like your genetically twisted taint. Blasphemy." Shouted the Emperor to Rose, and again the Doctor did not register what the Emperor really meant. Rose wondered how it was that she could be presented with so much danger, evil and carnage and yet her brain could still be worried about how the Doctor found out that she had a bun in the oven. She also wondered why the Dalek's didn't flat out say she was pregnant. Maybe it just wasn't that important to them in the grand scheme of things. To her it was the most important secret in the world, but to a Dalek there were probably other things to worry about.

"Do not blaspheme." Shouted one Dalek over and over in agreement with their Emperor.

"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek." Affirmed the Emperor, the Doctor looked at the Daleks in confusion and disbelieving amazement,

"Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?" He questioned to the universe.

"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!" Declared the Emperor in no humble voice.

"Worship him. Worship him. Worship him." Shouted all the Daleks around them.

"They're insane. Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever." The Doctor stated who had fully grasped the situation and almost pitied the creatures that he had to face now in mortal combat for the Earth. Daleks had been many things but never anything like this before.

"We're going." Shouted the Doctor to the Emperor

"You may not leave my presence." Commanded the Emperor to the time travelers. His followers very DNA cried for them to exterminate the abominations that were not Daleks.

"Stay where you are." Shouted one and then the entire ship of Daleks began shooting their death Rays.

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Worship him! You will be exterminated!" They yelled as loud as they could as the Doctor, Rose and Jack went back inside the TARDIS. The Doctor mock smiled at the Daleks as he closed the door and the Daleks shooting was all for nothing as the forcefield held true. Their soulless voiced echoed outside the TARDIS and the Doctor rested his weary and tired head on the door of the TARDIS. He was so tired of it all, he just wanted to stop but he knew he was cursed to never be able to. Rose watched on knowing that she could not even hope to imagine what the Doctor was feeling. All that he ever knew and loved was gone and for nothing. A tear fell down her cheek and she went to try to offer him some form of comfort, though she knew it would never be sufficient, but she had to try. However, she was not given the chance as the Doctor sprung back to life and marched toward the console. He was in war mode now, he was a soldier and they had to make ready for battle. A few flicks of the controls and the TARDIS was back on floor 500 right in the control area.

* * *

The Doctor boomed through the TARDIS doors on to floor 500. Its employees and Lynda with a 'Y' were waiting. She had no desire to take part in the rescue and quite frankly the Doctor and Jack had moved so quickly that she had not had a chance to join them on their spaceship. They had already slammed the doors before she realized what they were doing. Still she had decided that she wanted to help her new friend and had stuck around after all.

"Turn everything up. All transmitters full power, wide open. Now! Do it!" Ordered the Doctor to the Floor 500 employees. Jack hurried behind the Doctor carrying the extrapolator they had acquired in Cardiff. Hopefully they could use its forcefield abilities to their advantage. Rose followed after hoping that she could just be of some use somehow against more Daleks than she wanted to imagine.

"What does this do?" Asked Pavale, not sure what the Doctor was trying to accomplish.

"Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?" Asked the Doctor hoping that they would have back up, but the Daleks had prepared the humans too well over the years and Pavale, to the Doctor's dismay, conveyed,

"Well, we tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs."

"And the planet's just sitting there, defenseless." Declared the Doctor, oh the Daleks had been quite clever this time. He then looked to his left and saw that his friend Lynda had not evacuated with the rest of the humans onboard.

"Lynda, what're you still doing on board? I told you to evacuate everyone." Questioned the Doctor.

"She wouldn't go." Explained Pavale. Lynda looked up at her friend who had saved her from an almost sure death earlier and told him that she didn't want to leave him. Rose looked on and wondered what exactly the Doctor had gotten up to while she was gone. In a way she was glad that he made friends so fast, but such loyalty so quickly was amazing. She wondered if all people fell so easily for his charms…she had. Then there was that part of her that wanted to say more but she stomped it down for now. She was making something from nothing, and this was no time for jealousy.

"There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here. We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero." Announced Pavale's female coworker.

"Oh, my God. The Fleet is moving. They're on their way." Announced Pavale as he monitored the Dalek fleets movements. They were getting ready to attack.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And we are going to War! Comments, anything?


	59. Ch59 - She Finally told him

**Complicated**

By The Plot Thinens

**Chapter 59 – Parting of the Ways –She Finally told him**

Worried would be an understatement right now, as the Doctor was pulling bits out of the conduits. He had a very limited amount of time to devise a plan to defeat the Daleks, bring that plan to life and then execute said plan. All while the Daleks had already launched an invasion. Piece of cake, yeah?

"Dalek plan. Big mistake, because what have they left me with? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, come on, it's obvious. A great big transmitter. This station. If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it, anyone?" Asked the Doctor of the class excitedly. It finally dawned on Jack and with disbelief that they had such an unfair advantage against the Daleks he declared,

"You've got to be kidding." The Doctor saw that Jack was ahead of the class as usual and answered back,

"Give the man a medal." And Jack to make sure that he had it right asked,

"A Delta Wave?" The Doctor parroted back that indeed he meant a 'Delta Wave'. Rose was obviously not following as her knowledge of space-tech science was not as advanced as Jack's.

"What's a Delta Wave?" She asked. Jack being more than happy to fill in the blanks for Rose answered,

"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. It fries your brain. Stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbequed." The Doctor just as excited added,

"And this place can transmit a massive wave. Wipe out the Daleks!" Rose was about to shout encouragement but Lynda beat her too. Once more Rose was feeling like she had, in such a short time, been replaced. 'Be a mature woman, Rose. You are not jealous of Lynda. Behave or so help me…' Rose thought as she forced herself to act like an adult.

"Well, get started and do it then." Cheered Lynda, not wanting to waste a minute with those crazy monster aliens out there. The Doctor continued to pull out wires and cables from the backs of computer terminals and asked,

"Trouble is, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about, oh, three days? How long till the Fleet arrives?"

"Twenty two minutes." The Doctor was now very worried and began double his efforts to create the Delta Wave.

* * *

While the Doctor worked at the Delta Wave, Jack was busy with his own project. After endless pulling of wires and rerouting of bits and pieces of Game Station hardware their means to buy time was created. Jack sat at the commuter terminal activating the new program he had devised between the now attached extrapolator and the game Station computer system.

"We've now got a forcefield so they can't blast us out of the sky, but that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading." Explained Jack to Rose and the floor 500 employees who had not yet evacuated. The Doctor meanwhile cursed and tinkered in the background as he diligently worked on the Delta Wave.

"Do they know about the Delta Wave?" Asked Pavale, hoping that they still had the element of surprise.

"They'll have worked it out at the same time. So, they want to stop the Doctor. That means they've got to get to this level, five hundred." Said Jack as he pointed at a diagram of the station on the screen in front of him.

"Now, I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six levels, five hundred to four nine five. So they'll penetrate the station below that at level four nine four and fight their way up." Jack noted as he demonstrated the extrapolators range on the screen.

"Who are they fighting?" Question Pavale as someone needed to hold off the Daleks while the Doctor worked.

"Us." Said Jack quite plainly. They were battling for the fate of the Earth and not just this space station.

"And what are we fighting with?" Asked Pavale quite warily and obviously questioning him and his staff's ability to do so.

"The guards had guns with bastic bullets. That's enough to blow a Dalek wide open." He assured them, but Pavale's female coworker skeptically replied,

"There's five of us." Just then the Doctor piped up from among the coils and coils of wires and cables,

"Rose, you can help me. I need all these wires stripping bare." Rose dutifully came over to assist him with his task. The Doctor was a very selfish being and if he were being honest, anyone of the humans in front of him could have helped him strip wires, but he wanted to keep Rose close and safe where he could see her. He couldn't bare the idea of her being off on her own someplace on this station in a gun fight with Daleks. He knew that she was not helpless but this was Rose against the most deadly monsters in the galaxy. He wasn't sure if they would make it out alive but he wanted her with him for whatever time they had left together.

"Right, now there's four of us." Groaned the woman to Pavale.

"Then let's move it. Into the lift. Isolate the lift controls." Shouted Jack and then Pavale and his remaining employees ran off to the lift. All that remained was Lynda who made her way out by passing by the Doctor.

"I just want to say, er, thanks, I suppose, and I'll do my best. Smiled Lynda sheepishly to the Doctor. Rose quietly watched and stripped wires as she witnessed the awkward display of goodbyes unfold in front of her.

"Me too." He grinned back although a bit more strained. They both had a good idea of the fight that was ahead of them and their chances of surviving. The Doctor moved forward as if he meant to kiss the young woman on the forehead, but she backed away from his advance. Then the two, after laughing it off, settled on an embarrassed handshake as a goodbye. The Doctor was a charming and charismatic man, but a kiss was a bit too soon for Lynda, plus it did not seem appropriate with his wife watching only a few feet away. She didn't want Rose thinking that she was a home wrecker. Lynda walked away only once looking back at the Doctor, who smiled back as she left the room.

Now Rose looked very irked, there was no fighting it and she was feeling very much the jealous female stereotype and she cursed herself for it. A part of her, the jealous part was shouting, 'Thinks you're dead and already he's got himself a new blond, a proper blond!' Rose was his wife and she was not sharing him with anyone! But fortunately rational Rose finally won out her mental battle and she only decided to feel jealous and hurt rather than voice it and let it affect her work performance. They had other things to worry about than her feeling that the Doctor had been picking up chicks practically at her funeral. How fast did the Doctor usually take on companions, and if not for the situation of him finding himself married to her, how soon could she be replaced? If she were dead, she wouldn't want him to be alone and to find new friends. But selfishly she hoped that he would at least mourn her a week before getting a new blond companion. This was destructive thinking and didn't help anyone so she stopped. Rose put down the cables she was stripping as Jack walked up with his usual winning smile on his face, but she could tell that he was worried.

"It's been fun, but I guess this is goodbye." He smirked as he regarded the couple that he had come to love so much. He had seen their relationship evolve and then evolve again when the situation had changed. They had their issues but he knew that if they had had enough time the Doctor and Rose would have made it.

"Don't talk like that. The Doctor's going to do it. You just watch him." Assured Rose to the anxious Captain. Jack turned to Rose, his wonderful friend and took her lovely face gently into his hands. Rose was a person that he saw no problem holding off the evil hordes for, her and her child. He wanted to let her know how much she meant to him and how she had helped make his life more worth living. The Doctor and Rose had changed him for the better and whether or not that was ultimately better for him in the long run as far as survival went, he didn't care. His life, even if it would be shorter, was made all the richer for crossing paths with this unlikely pair. Maybe some survivalist part of him wished that their paths had never crossed, but then he would have continued his life as a con man ignorant to the fact that there could be more, that he could do more and that life could mean more.

"Rose, you are worth fighting for." Said Jack solemnly, he then gently kissed Rose on the lips and also indicated secretly that he meant both Rose and her child.

"Finally got to kiss the bride." He smirked and grinned at the funny bashful look on Rose's face. He then turned to the Doctor and declared,

"Wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward. He then grabbed the Doctor's face in the same manner he had Rose's and kissed him full on the mouth as he had always dreamed of doing ever since the man had saved him. If Jack were honest with himself he had dreamt of doing a whole lot more with the two of them together many nights alone in his room on the TARDIS, but those were thoughts that he didn't have time for now. Rose had to fight off a smirk as the look of exasperation on the Doctor's face, after being kissed by the Captain, was hilarious. It sure was 'nice' to finally know that Jack didn't play favorites and was equally in love with the both of them, thought the Doctor as he rolled his eyes. The world could be blowing up around them, and it probably would be soon enough, and Jack would still have his mind on physical romance.

"See you in hell." He winked to the both of them and then he was off like a shot. Rose was touched but felt that he was being a bit too dramatic and flippantly stated to the Doctor,

"He's going to be all right…" The look on the Doctor's face was not reassuring and she questioned,

"Isn't he?"

* * *

Below on Floor 000 Jack found a chaotic mess of panicking humans rushing about for answers and shouting at what guards remained. He had tried to get their attention by jumping up on some old machinery and shouting for volunteers to help aid in the fight, but as soon as he said that Daleks were coming to invade the Earth, he was met with more panic and disbelief. Having no time to wait for them to calm down on their own, Jack held up his gun and fired it into the air. This got everyone's attention and then they were all silent.

"One last time! Any more volunteers? There's an army about to invade this station. I need every last citizen to mount a defense.

"Don't listen to him. There aren't any Daleks. They disappeared thousands of years ago." Shouted Rodrick whose luck had seemed to have run out as he was among the one hundred people left stranded on the Game Station. Or maybe he had just not wanted to leave without his money first, either way he was there and being of no help. Despite this man's shouts, a volunteer stepped up and it was the Floor Manager that Jack had curse and threatened earlier. Jack didn't know what was compelling her to help. Was it to try and assure her self-preservation or a desire to atone for past sins? He did not know. Jack just needed people to hold guns and fight off the Daleks.

"Thanks." Said Jack to the floor manager and continued,

"As for the rest of you, the Daleks will enter the station at floor four nine four and as far as I can tell, they'll head up, not down. But that's not a promise. So here's a few words of advice. Keep quiet. And if you hear fighting up above, if you hear us dying, then tell me that the Daleks aren't real. Don't make a sound. Let's go." Everyone got quiet who did not volunteer while Jack, Lynda and his few volunteers all got in the lift. It was time to put on their defense.

* * *

Rose and the Doctor sat across from each other on Floor 500. They were covered in wires and the Doctor's neck was so craned downward that it looked as if it might break, he was so into his work. Rose looked across to her husband and wondered if there was anything that they had not thought of to make it through this impossible situation that they found themselves in. Anyway she had a logical question that she needed to ask.

"Suppose." Said Rose, interrupting the dead quiet between the two of them.

"What?" Asked the Doctor distracted as he jammed a particularly uncooperative part in place of what he was working on.

"Nothing." Said Rose dismissively. She knew the Doctor was busy enough without her silly and ignorant questions to distract him.

"You said suppose." Stated the Doctor, interested in what Rose had to say as he looked up at Rose from his work.

"No, I was just thinking. I mean, obviously you can't, but, you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?" Implied Rose cautiously hoping that wasn't suggesting something that was too impossible.

"As soon as the TARDIS lands in that second, I become part of events, stuck in the timeline." The Doctor explained in a voice that didn't like admitting that that was in fact the case, as a rule of time.

"Yeah, thought it'd be something like that." Said Rose with a hint of disappointment, but still trying to keep the mood light. They were facing what might be their death and it was amazing to her that she was remaining calm enough to talk about this as if they were talking about the weather.

"There's another thing the TARDIS could do. It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989." Suggested the Doctor as he fiddled some more with computer bits.

"Yeah, but you'd never do that." Said Rose without a shadow of doubt of what kind of man her Doctor was.

"No, but you could ask." He declared as he looked up at Rose and seeing the surprised look on her face smiled.

"Never even occurred to you, did it?" Said the Doctor in admiration of his Rose.

"Well, I'm just too good. You taught me too well." Declared Rose as she looked off a bit to the side. She was finding it hard to look at him right now as if she were worried that he would give her a look that would confirm that this was it for them.

"Aw, I didn't teach you anything. You already had it all in you. Good and honest, you." Said the Doctor almost bashfully. The word, 'honest', hit Rose and she decided that there was never going to be a better time now, they were alone and about to fight off an alien invasion of Daleks. She didn't see any other opportunities coming her way easily now. Rose stood up and walked over to the Doctor across from her and then kneeled in front of him. There was no point in cowardice anymore. The Doctor looked confused and searched Rose's eyes for some explanation. Rose took a deep breath and took the Doctor's hand and then her eyes never wavering she plainly said,

"Doctor, I'm pregnant and you are going to be a father." The Doctor looked liked he had seen a Dalek in a tutu handing out flowers to hippies at a tree hugging convention on Neptune. He looked into Rose's eyes again trying to find some sign that it was all a poorly timed joke, but there was no such sign. He could tell from her scared pulse alone that she was not lying. But that couldn't be true, humans and Time Lords just weren't genetically compatible. Even if you wanted to make them such, it would take a ton of scientific aid, genetic engineering and looming technology that was no longer available in the universe with the destruction of Gallifrey. Even then that wouldn't be a true hybrid, the Time Lord TNA would have to win out, maybe a 1/3 human you might get. Getting back on track, it couldn't just happen by accident and he had never been with Rose as a Time Lord.

"But that's impossible. It can't be, we're not…" Declared the Doctor in a disbelieving voice. Or did she mean that it was John's child and she was trying to be inclusive with him? A child of John's would in a way be his, at least in physical appearance, but he was far more complicated than his human DNA ever was. John's child would hardly even qualify as being part him. That was the whole point of the procedure he had endured, to be different and hide. Not that he wouldn't take responsibility for his actions as a human to that extent. At least he liked to think that he would take responsibility for having accidentally created a human life as John, if he had the time. Right now time was growing short. But normal human gestation would make the prospect of him being the father impossible. Oh, no had something happened to Rose and she was now in denial of some kind? A million more thoughts and possibilities raced through his large Time Lord brain, Rose saw the struggling look on his face and went to comfort him. She needed to give him her complete reassurance.

"Oh, it's yours. Believe me, Jack and the TARDIS confirmed it in the medbay. And no one told our baby that that was impossible, but here it is." Smiled Rose as she placed the Doctor's hand over her womb. And on that contact, he felt again that tingle of another he had thought he had fooled himself into feeling days before. He had felt his child reaching out to him days before. And his eyes began to water. He wasn't the last one anymore. The TARDIS had let up on the mind block she had put up. Perhaps she too felt that there wasn't going to be a better time to tell the Time Lord. That was what Rose had been trying to tell him before this whole stupid Game Station mess started, the Doctor realized. Even the Daleks had figured it out earlier than him when they referred to Rose as more than one person, god he was thick. He wasn't sure how, and he knew that tests would have to be done later, if they lived, to find out the how and why, but still not the last of the Time Lords anymore. There were now two of them. Oh, Rose was an amazing and fantastic being indeed, who else would have found some way to give him this.

"Hello." Smiled the Doctor through watery eyes as he 'spoke' to the precious little life growing inside of Rose. Indeed he didn't know how it was possible but he would not have been able to connect to another being on this level if it wasn't partly of the Time Lord race and of his own blood. Telepathy was a dominant time lord trait after all. That was when it hit him, he now knew why he had been having such vivid dreams about his past and he now knew that Rose had also been having them. The Doctor then explained to Rose,

"It was rumored that before the Gallifreyan genetic modifications of the Time Lords… When our telepathy wasn't as advance and time ladies gave birth to their young, rather than looming them…I'll explain looming to you later. That offspring were known to seek out their parent's minds as their first telepathic action, a bond. Sort of forming a connection linking their biological parents together. It was suppose to help make sure that the intimate connection between the parents would stay strong and helps guarantee that the child would have both parents as protection when born. Hence helping insure the baby's own survival by encouraging their parents to bond. Apparently with the human DNA watering down the TNA the fetus feels vulnerable enough that its dominate TNA genes have moved back to this proto Time Lord defense mechanism. Just speculation, I would have to run tests… Not that I consider it watering down, quite brilliant of them actually since we were off to a rough start. It's just genetically speaking TNA and DNA meetings are dodgy at best. Just shows how resourceful our baby is even in the womb to make certain its survival. Junior felt that the distress and tension between the two of us and wanted to help by reminding us of some of the good times that made out bond strong."

"So our baby is playing marriage counselor?" Inquired Rose, amazed that a fetus, even a half Time Lord one, could do all that.

"Well I didn't want to say 'Parent Trap,' I liked the original movie better personally. Hayley Mills, interesting woman, really gets into Pescetarianism." Smirked the Doctor. There was a bit of silence between the two of them, but then Rose piped up,

"I'm sorry Doctor, I'm sorry that I wasn't brave enough to tell you sooner, we could have enjoyed this longer and now we all might…" The Doctor gently placed a finger on her lips to silence her worry.

It was amazing how happy he could despite the fact that he knew that he was most likely going to die and that there was probably no hope for them. But take out the possibility that he would out live his family, it was incredible just how happy one could be at learning that they had a baby on the way. At the same time it was sad but it in a way this freed him up to truly enjoy the fleeting moment.

"Why did you keep me in the dark about this, Rose?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor…I was scared. I didn't know how you would react. Hell, I didn't even know how John would either. We never discussed children. And when you changed, you were always so dead set against anything domestic…A baby is about as domestic as you can get." The Doctor realized that he was to blame for all this; he had put every seed of doubt into Rose's head himself.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel that way. How else could you have reacted? I'm a rubbish husband." Rose was floored that he actually admitted to being her husband, and remembering that he had just insulted himself said,

"You aren't, either. I said I don't regret marrying you and I meant it. We'll get through this together, the three of us and Jack too." Suddenly an electrical noise powered up and the Doctor looked about him in realization.

"The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" He asked himself excitedly as he ran to the console with purpose. His family's lives depended on this information. Rose followed and watched him as he looked at the read out and saw the time remain. He closed his eyes in despair, they would never have enough time to use it let alone refine it so that it wouldn't fry all their brains. Rose was concerned by the face the Doctor made and cautiously asked,

"Is that bad?" The Doctor only hung his head lower and Rose nervously said,

"Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?" Suddenly the Doctor's countenance changed and he turned around and looked over to Rose.

"Rose Tyler Smith, you're a genius!" He shouted and then kissed Rose on the forehead merrily causing Rose to immediately smile. Her heart flooded with warmth, John had kissed her like that. He had done so whenever he had come to a hard found conclusion to a problem and she happened to be around. Not dropping a beat the Doctor started talking again.

"We can do it. If I use the TARDIS to cross my old timeline. Yes!" Cheered the Doctor to Rose who was not only stunned by his sudden happy mood, but also by the fact that she realized, once her brain had caught up with her, that that had been the first time he had called her by her full name since the Doctor had been John. It filled her with delight that even the current situation that they were in couldn't dash. In a daze of hope and happiness she followed the excited Doctor back into the TARDIS and watched him run up to the console. He instructed Rose to hold down a part on the console and keep it in that position. Rose readily obeyed wanting to do her best to help save them all from the Dalek invasion. After all if they lived long she could ask him if he planned on making a habit of calling her Rose Tyler Smith. It had been a long journey but now it was very possible that she was getting her man back. Having this all squared away before the baby came was ideal to her.

"What's it do?" She asked as she placed her hand in position, ever curious about the workings of the TARDIS. She quickly pondered how well their child would be able to learn the workings of the TARDIS. She doubted that she would be able to give them lessons herself no matter how long she assisted with the TARDIS. That job would have to be for the Doctor alone, but hopefully he would help her fake that she knew what she was doing to save face in front of their child for a little while.

The Doctor busily worked at the controls setting up the program that he had taken the time to make on one of the many times Rose had been asleep on the TARDIS and he awake. He had hoped that it would never come to this and that he wouldn't have to use it, but he was glad that he had planned for this. At least this way he could save two lives when he was powerless to save any others. These were the lives he wanted to save the most and he selfishly was sparing them for his own comfort, he knew that, but he was guilty of far greater sins.

"Cancels the buffers. If I'm very clever and Daddy is more than clever, I'm brilliant, I might just save the world. Or rip it apart." Explained the Doctor quickly to Rose and their unborn child. Rose swallowed nervously and replied,

"I'd go for the first one."

"Me too. Now, I've just got to go and power up the Game Station. Hold on!" Instructed the Doctor as he ran out of the TARDIS and closed the door behind him. The Doctor after a few feet out stopped in the midst of his mess of cables and looked back at the TARDIS, knowing that he would never see it or the family he was leaving behind within it ever again. He had hoped that it would not have come to this and he had been dragging his feet in accepting it. He wanted to think that he would come up with something ingenious like he always did, but the second he had seen the read out of the charging speeding of the Delta Wave, he bitterly knew that he had no other choice. With a heavy heart he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the TARDIS and the engines started the dematerialization process. He hated to trick her like this but hopefully perhaps with time, which thanks to his trickery she would have, she would come to forgive him. He never would, but she might. She was like that and he would never deserve her.

* * *

From within the TARDIS Rose was very confused. There had been a few anxious moments of quiet and then suddenly the TARDIS engines were starting up. Was that suppose to happen? Normally that would happen when the TARDIS was starting off on a trip. Why did it seem like it was getting ready for a trip? Rose trusted the Doctor, but she was still torn between asking the Doctor for clarity and her duty to hold down the control on the TARDIS she held.

"Doctor, what're you doing? Can I take my hand off? It's moving." Shouted Rose above the engines, but when she realized what the TARDIS might be doing she ran for the door. She found that it was locked and she could not get out.

"Doctor, let me out!" Begged Rose as she pounded on door. The Doctor could hear Rose's voice in distress and he wanted to hold her and comfort her so badly but this was for her own good. For his family's own good. He knew that it was unfair and selfish for him to make this decision for Rose, but he guessed that that was the sort of man he was.

"Let me out! Doctor, what've you done?" Were the last words the Doctor heard out of Rose before the TARDIS dematerialized completely and was gone.

Rose couldn't believe that this was happening. What was the Doctor up to? What was he doing locking her in here? If the time rotor was activated it meant that she was being sent someplace else. Why was he sending her away? She wanted to be with him. Didn't that idiot Time Lord know that?! She had been tricked, he had lied to her and was sending her away, leaving her behind, and she had made him promise not to do that again. Her frustrated thoughts were interrupted by a holographic projection of the Doctor flickering to life near the TARDIS console. Rose heard the Doctor's voice and turned to listen.

"This is Emergency Program One. Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape." Rose was aghast when she realized what was happening. This was a worst case scenario recording.

"No!" Shouted Rose, she didn't want to just accept what this hologram was saying. She didn't want the Doctor to die while she was just sent away, while he was in danger. He couldn't just die alone. The Hologram recording continued to talk unaffected by Rose's distress.

"And that's okay. Hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."

"I won't let you." Protested Rose defiantly to the unhearing recording as she approached the console. This was not how a marriage worked, it was 50/50, an equal partnership. He didn't get to make all the decisions for her! Rose walked to the side of the hologram as it stared ahead at where the Doctor must have thought Rose would be when he recorded it.

"And I bet you're fussing and moaning now. Typical." Declared the Doctor in a slightly sarcastic voice. Rose would have laughed at how well he could predict her actions if the situation was not so dire.

"But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do. Let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it. No one'll even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world'll move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all, one thing." The Hologram then turned its head to where Rose was standing and she was taken slightly aback by the hologram seemingly taking notice of her exact location.

"Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life." Entreated the hologram and then it flickered out. Rose was devastated at the implications that were now as clear as day. He was setting her up to spend the rest of her life and her child's without him and this was unacceptable. He had no right to do that to her without even consulting her. And he was also consequently denying his child the opportunity to know him. With hurt, anger and sorrow on her voice she stated,

"You can't do this to me. You can't do this to us." She ran up to the console and gripped futilely at the first control she could find,

"You can't. Take me back! Take me back! No!" Shouted Rose as she tried to use the controls, but as soon as she had tried the engine stopped. She had no idea where she was now, so she ran outside the TARDIS, hoping to find the game station, but instead the Powell Estate. Not their home, then, but her home she had shared with her mother before John had crossed her path. Maybe he figured that she would need her mother to comfort her, since her husband had just thrown himself on his sword for her sake. But that wasn't his right to decide, damn it! It wasn't! No, she couldn't accept this! She couldn't just go on as if it all never happened! She couldn't leave him when she needed him most. When he needed her most. She ran back inside and once more frantically tried to work the console.

"Come on, fly. How do you fly? Come on, help me!" Rose shouted to the TARDIS praying that it would somehow listen to her. Rose tried at the controls hopelessly for ten more minutes and then she had to accept that she just did not know how to fly the TARDIS, it was beyond her primitive human brain to do so and she cursed herself. Defeated she made the agonizing walk down the ramp and then opened the TARDIS doors. She warily walked around the side of the TARDIS and leaned heavily against her. Rose then looked up the street and saw Mickey running down the road.

"I knew it! I was all the way down Clifton Parade, and I heard the engines. I thought, there's only one thing that makes a noise like that." Declared Mickey as he approached. He then saw that Rose was crying and asked. What was wrong? Rose turned to Mickey and fell into a tight hug as she cried on his shoulder with one of her hands over her stomach.

* * *

Unaware of the dramatic farewell that had just taken place, Jack spoke over the intercom on Floor 494.

"Rose, I've called up the internal laser codes. There should be a different number on every screen. Can you read them out to me?" Asked Jack of Rose. The Doctor obviously upset, but trying his best to hid it gruffed out,

"She's not here." Jack figured that the Doctor was subtly hinting that Rose had to use the Lady's Room and a bit irritated at her timing said over the com,

"Of all the times to take a leak. When she gets back, tell her to read me the codes."

"She's not coming back." Declared the Doctor in an angry and hurt voice. He was busy enough making this impossible device and he didn't need to be thinking about how much he missed and longed for Rose. He had to give up a lot for the sake of this wretched universe and it seemed that even though he had given everything he had in the past, the universe as cruel as it was demanded more. Now he had had to give up his wife and child and all because the Dalek's couldn't die properly! So why didn't Jack just shut up about Rose?! Was it so much for him to just have a nice quiet life exploring worlds with his family and friends? Apparently it was. His hand slipped on a wire and he grabbed at it again in frustration as Jack asked,

"What do you mean? Where'd she go?" Where could Rose go? He was worried.

The Doctor did not wish to discuss the matter further and snipped,

"Just get on with your work."

"You took her home, didn't you?" Asked Jack the pieces falling in place in his head. That's why the Doctor was so upset. The Doctor wasn't always as cold and unreadable as he would have liked everyone to think.

"Yeah, I sent them home." Said the Doctor trying to make it sound like it was nothing. Just protocol basically. The Doctor then glanced up at Jack on the view screen near him and asked,

"And Jack later if you see me in person, I want you to punch me in the face." Jack was startled and asked why? He never figured the doctor fit the S&M type, but he reasoned that that wasn't the reason at all.

"On behalf of Rose. She said if I did something like this again, she'd give me ten times worse so I'll thank you to punch me. Maybe blacken the eye a bit or both, like a raccoon." Jack knew now that if Rose had been sent home then the Doctor's optimism in their ability to succeed was minimal at best, nonexistent at worst. The Doctor he could sense was already in the mourning process, and probably didn't think he'd get to see her again. Solemnly he questioned,

"Yeah. The Delta Wave. Is it ever going to be ready?" The Doctor did not have a chance to answer as the Dalek Emperor chose that moment to override the Game Station holo viewscreen. Jack and the Doctor listened as the Emperor declared,

"Tell him the truth, Doctor. There is every possibility the Delta Wave could be complete, but no possibility of refining it. The Delta Wave must kill every living thing in its path, with no distinction between human and Dalek. All things will die. By your hands."

"Doctor, the range of this transmitter covers the entire Earth." Stated Jack plainly, wanting to make sure that the Doctor completely understood the meaning of using the Delta Wave.

"You would destroy Daleks and Humans together. If I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?" Mocked the Emperor in its monotone voice. Clearly it meant to turn the Doctor's followers against him by appealing to Jack's desire to survive.

"There are colonies out there. The Human Race would survive in some shape or form, but you're the only Daleks in existence." Spat the Doctor, he then continued,

"The whole Universe is in danger if I let you live." Jack regarded the Doctor carefully as the Doctor addressed him.

"Do you see, Jack? That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a human or live as a Dalek. What would you do?" He inquired of Jack. Jack understood and knew what needed to be done. All Jack cared about in the universe was the Doctor and Rose. Rose was safe and the Doctor he trusted completely. He would follow him to the ends of time and space if he could.

"You sent her home. She's safe. Keep working." Stated Jack and the Emperor could not believe what he was hearing. He had expected to incite infighting that would greatly hinder the Doctor.

"But he will exterminate you!" Shouted the Emperor in disbelief. Jack was loyal to the Doctor to the point of insanity and he wasn't going to start being disloyal now.

"Never doubted him. Never will." Smirked Jack and the Doctor did the same. He then ran up to the holo monitor projecting the disgusting Emperor and asked,

"Now, you tell me, God of all Daleks, because there's one thing I never worked out. The words 'Bad Wolf,' spread across time and space, everywhere, drawing me in. How'd you manage that?" The Emperor had no idea what the Doctor was talking about and said that he did nothing of the sort. Not believing the Emperor, the Doctor probed,

"Oh, come on, there's no secrets now, your worship." Again the Emperor had no idea what 'Bad Wolf' had to do with anything,

"They are not part of my design. This is the Truth of God." Astonished that the mystery lived on, the Doctor looked up at the 'BadWolf' Corporation sign on the wall, they seemed to be high above on every floor on this space station. Maybe some mysteries he just couldn't solve.

* * *

Author's Notes: Finally told the Doctor so I guess you can all die happy now, just kidding. There is more to come and oh how I'm getting excited for season 2. It's coming soon. Comments as always appreciated. Made a slight correction, say what do you think of her confession?


	60. Chapter 60 Parting of the ways - Stuck

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 60 Parting of the ways** - **Stuck**

The first thing that they did was find Jackie. Mickey felt that this was obviously the type of situation that Rose needed her mother for. All the way to the flat, Rose had leaned hard on Mickey as she blubbered and cried her eyes blind with tears. When they had arrived Jackie was relieved to see her daughter again, but when she saw the look on her face she rushed to hold her and asked,

"Love, what's wrong? Where's the Doctor? What did he do?" Jackie looked ahead to Mickey who very quickly gestured to her not to mention the Doctor. But the damage was already done and Rose cried out barely noticing where she was,

"The Doctor sent me back in the TARDIS. He stranded himself! We…we were in a place, a situation where the Doctor felt that we were going to die and he sent me back so I wouldn't get hurt. Said he promised to take care of me. But it's not fair I wanted to stay with him! He had no right. He gave up too soon, we could have thought of something! We could have found a way like we always do. And now I'm going to have to raise our baby all alone!" Jackie was stunned by what Rose had said, but not as much as she was by what Rose in her emotional state had revealed. Rose had not told her mother yet. Blame the situation, hormones or both, Rose had blabbed out her biggest secret.

"Wait a minute, You're pregnant?!" Jackie all but shouted out in shock at the knowledge that her daughter was carrying an alien baby. Meaning Jackie was to be the grandmother of an half alien grandbaby. The conversation from there became very interesting from that moment on. Though fortunately, Jackie was not in the mood to be too argumentative since Rose already looked so upset.

It was a group effort but between the three of them, Mickey, Rose and Jackie had calmed down enough to be fit to be seen in public. After an hour and half of crying and questioning Jackie was now up to speed on the situation. Jackie was torn by many emotions, the desire to nurture and care for her bereaved daughter ran through her mind at the same time that she wanted to revel with the fact that she was going to be a grandmother. And as much as she instinctually loved her grandchild she was also afraid of how different it could turn out to be. She had also been hurt that Rose was now almost two months gone and was only now getting around to telling her the good news. But Jackie also had her concerns. What did this mean for Rose? Rose was unfortunately about as prepared as Jackie was to care for an infant by herself when Jackie had lost her husband. She knew how lonely, trying and sad it could be to raise a child who was half of your beloved spouse all by yourself. She knew that there would still be many joys, but also there was sadness that your spouse was missing out on so many moments.

Then there were the logistical and monetary complications of single parenthood. There was always the frustration of wanting to experience all those important moments in your child's life, but at the same time needing to allot time to work so that you could feed your child. Jackie didn't know where to start in helping to guide her bereaved child, but she knew that Rose needed a distraction and food. That was why they were at this restaurant. Rose needed normalcy and her favorite food to cheer her up.

They were now at a Rotisserie type restaurant and Jackie and Mickey were eating their meals out of polystyrene containers. Rose much to her mother's dismay did not appear to be hungry. Rose stared at the chips in front of her and all she could think of was John and the Doctor. Rose dazed blankly out the window as Mickey and Jackie made small talk.

"And it's gone up market, this place. They're doing little tubs of coleslaw, now. It's not very nice. It tastes a bit sort of clinical." Said Jackie in an attempt to create some idle chitchat. Mickey was on very much the same wave length and asked Jackie back,

"Have you tried that new pizza place down Minto Road? "

"What's it selling?" Asked Jackie and Mickey answered the obvious, Pizza. Jackie said that was nice and asked if they delivered, to which Mickey answered the affirmative. Mickey shoveled more food in his mouth and Jackie did the same. Jackie looked once more at Rose across the table and saw that she had still not touched one bit of her food.

"Oh, Rose, have something to eat. You're eating for two now, ya know. Can't have you or my grandbaby going hungry." Encouraged Jackie, remembering how much she had eaten when she was pregnant with Rose. She was very concerned for Rose's well being and not showing an interest in chips was very not like her.

"Two hundred thousand years in the future, he's dying, and there's nothing I can do." Declared Rose with misty and frustrated eyes at how hopeless and helpless she was to do anything about her situation. She had no idea how to fly the TARDIS and she would never live long enough to make it to him the slow way in order to help him.

"Well, like you said two hundred thousand years. It's way off." Said Jackie trying to be the voice of reason. The sooner Rose accepted that it was just out of her power to help the Doctor, the better. After all, Rose would have enough trouble just sorting out the life she left behind a year ago. Probably would have to sell her house too, there was no way she could afford the taxes on a place like that as a shop girl. On top of that Jackie knew from experience that raising a child on your own was rough, but it was doable. She knew that with time the pain of losing your spouse, still ached but dulled with time. Being a widow was hard, but she had made it through so far, damaged but still sailing. It was only on those occasions when she got very sentimental that the alcohol would come out, and then she never really remembered those times afterwards. At least Rose had not spent her last day with the Doctor arguing like Jackie had with Pete. That thought often plagued Jackie on dark days, but she tried to focus on the good times. She wasn't trying to be callous with her declaration to Rose. Jackie was just trying to think of ways that she, with her experience, could save Rose some heartache from what she had learned over time. But at the same time Jackie knew that in loss everyone had to come to it in their own time. Hopefully it would not be too painful to watch her child go through that grieving stage. Jackie had found having baby Rose around to be a great comfort and someone to cuddle with in the dark days when she was first widowed. Maybe Rose would cling to her child in the same way. Jackie promised herself there that she would work harder to bring home money so that her daughter could enjoy more of the time raising her child in the years to come. And she didn't care now how alien the child was, she would certainly babysit. Jackie's pondering was ended when Rose started talking again.

"But it's not. It's now. That fight is happening right now, and he's fighting for us, for the whole planet, and I'm just sitting here eating chips while the father of my child is dying!" Said Rose in anger at the universe and herself. Mickey looked on with pity, what else could he do? Jackie saw that Rose was getting upset again and leaning closer to her she tried to calm her down.

"Listen to me. God knows I have hated that man, after what he's put you through. If he wasn't enough of a headache for me as a human, he had to become double that as an alien. But right now, I love him and do you know why? Because he did the right thing. He sent the both of you back to me. Now you're safe and so is your baby. He saved the both of you. You can't ask more than that from any spouse." Declared Jackie. This did not sit well with Rose. She didn't want to accept this, it would be admitting defeat and resigning herself to the life she had before she met John. She didn't want to go back to the way she was living then and she didn't want to raise her child in that sort of way.

"But what do I do every day from now on, mum? What do I do? What did I do before I met him? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed? Is that it?" Questioned Rose. She didn't know how she could ever go back to a life like that again. She didn't know how she could raise her child up in a life like that. There was another way that her baby needed to be shown and Rose didn't know if she could do that all by herself. Her child would always be lacking without their father, especially their particular father. It wasn't like she could teach them to fly the TARDIS, or the rules of time and space. They needed guidance that Rose couldn't give, Rose could only give human guidance and that was only half of the equation. Barring the Doctor's culture and history, Rose was already ill equip to bring up a telepath and she wasn't sure how to apply what she had learned with the Doctor to regular Earth life yet. Regular human parents already had enough anxieties about bringing up their children right without the added stress and responsibilities of bringing up a child who was a member of an endangered species. And if they were anything like their father, they would probably stand out glaringly so among humans. Would they get picked on? Experimented on if they were found out? Or feel isolated or alone for the rest of their life unable to connect to the species surrounding them that they only shared half an origin with? Children of two different ethnicities could have enough problems without it being two different species. Stuck in a life where they would always be lonely and a stranger on a world only half their own. Rose needed the Doctor to help their child through a confusing life. Rose needed the Doctor and she knew that the Doctor needed her more than anything right now and she was stuck here!

"It's what the rest of us do." Scoffed Mickey, not being able to help but feel that Rose was thinking that regular human life wasn't good enough for her anymore.

"But I can't!" Declared a beyond frustrated Rose. She just couldn't live the life that was set out for her now, it just wasn't right. It wasn't how her new family was meant to live. She couldn't just give up and let things play out. They could help people, solve problems, change lives for the better when no one else would or was willing. And now because of the stupid Daleks they couldn't do that anymore.

"Why, because you're better than us?" Spat Mickey.

"No, I didn't mean that. But it was… It was a better life with him. And I don't mean all the travelling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. Or even the house or what financial security John could have provided. That don't matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life." Rose then pointed to Mickey, imploring for him to understand what she meant, it almost defied words. The Doctor was right when he had told her times before about the inefficiency, ineffectiveness and lack of expressiveness that human languages sometimes presented. So many times just trying to get across the meaning was a challenge. How did she put in words what she felt? Trying her best Rose piped up to her Ex,

"You know he showed you too. That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away. And that's the kind of life I want to give my family. I have to. To move on like it never as if nothing…" Rose gripped the cheap restaurant table in anguish then shoved it aside. There was nothing for it but to run, just keep running and hope that she would somehow get where she wanted to be.

"And I just can't…" Sobbed Rose as she ran from the café. Jackie went up immediately to catch up with her bereaving daughter, but Mickey stilled her.

"No, Jacks, let me do it…I know I'm not her first choice, but I'm going to try to see if she'll let me try to make her happy." Said Mickey. Jackie was skeptical as to how receptive she would be to an offer like that right now right after her husband's assumed death so she replied,

"Just be easy on her, she needs gentle comfort right now more than anything." Mickey then ran after Rose and finally caught up to her in an empty park covered in blacktop by the Powell Estate.

* * *

Jack was giving Lynda, with a 'y', instructions to follow while the two of them were on the Observation deck. Lynda nervously stood by the console that the Doctor had been tinkering at earlier and her eyes darted quickly from the console screen to Jack as she soaked in the information. All of what he told her was critical to their survival and Jack clearly explained,

"Right, Lynda, you are my eyes and ears. When the Daleks get in, you can follow it on that screen and report it to me." Lynda nodded her head and said that she understood.

"They'll detect you, but the door's made of Hydra Combination. It should keep them out." Jack said quickly to which the woman anxiously asked,

"Should?" Jack gave her the best reassuring smile he could and replied,

"It's the best I can do." He then flicked on his wrist communicator and asked Pavale about the Daleks,

"How long till the Fleet arrives?"

"They've accelerated." The man's voice crackled over the speaker of Jack's wrist communicator. His blood now pumping with adrenaline Jack scrambled out of the room and announced to his fellow combatants,

"This is it, ladies and gentlemen. We are at war!" Lynda turned to the large observation window in the room and to her horror saw the hostile alien saucers and streaming down from them were Daleks. They were coming right at the Game Station in numbers that she couldn't even count.

* * *

Rose had run all the way back to the Powell Estate and was now just staring off into space as she sat on the ground feeling utterly defeated.

"You can't spend the rest of your life thinking about the Doctor." Mickey tried to sooth Rose with a gentle voice, he hated seeing Rose so distraught.

"But how do I forget him?" Asked Rose to the universe as much as to Mickey. How did you forget the most important person in your life? The love of your life? The father of your child? Your husband, taken from you well before his time? The person who saved your life more times then she could count. It was impossible and she only saw years of sad regret ahead of her. She knew that the Doctor asked her to have a fantastic life, but without him she could not yet see how that was possible. Maybe Rose might be able to press on without him after time, but she certainly wasn't in the state of mind to think about that yet. Mickey couldn't stand seeing Rose like this. She was young, beautiful and had her whole life ahead of her and she was acting like it was all over. At 21 or 20, or however old she was now after traveling with the Doctor!

"You've got to start living your own life. You know, a proper life, like the kind he never could have. The sort of life that you could have with me. Maybe the Doctor was trying to give us a chance. You could have a future with me, Rose. And I'll be the father for your child that the Doctor can't be now. You could have that chance at a normal life with your kid. Rose, you don't have to raise up your kid alone like Jackie did with you. I'll be as proper a Dad as I can be to em, even if they got three heads." Said Mickey trying to sound as reasonable as he could to the shell-shocked Rose Tyler Smith. He knew that it wasn't what she considered the best option but he was offering it and maybe in time she would come to accept his offer and maybe they could find a bit of happiness together. The three of them. Rose barely heard the last bit of what Mickey was suggesting as she noticed large letters painted on the tarmac of the play area in chalk. She then looked across the way at a brick wall. There covered in years worth of graffiti were the words 'Bad Wolf' not once but twice! Rose got excited as the hints were starting to make sense. Things were lining up in her head and she shouted,

"Over here. It's over here as well!" She then ran up closer to the wall to get a better look almost worried her eyes were playing tricks on her, but there were the two words.

"That's been there for years. It's just a phrase. It's just words." And words are very powerful things. Rose couldn't believe that it would take this long to send a message only for it to make sense for her now. How many years had she walked past these words, never knowing or expecting that they were intended for her? But they were here all along. It was mind blowing, 'Bad Wolf' everywhere! It was almost as comforting as it was disturbing.

"I thought it was a warning. Maybe it's the opposite. Maybe it's a message. The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It's a link between me and the Doctor. Bad Wolf here, Bad Wolf there." Said Rose coming to an epiphany.

"But if it's a message, what's it saying?" Questioned Mickey who was beyond confused and needing answers.

"It's telling me I can get back to 'im! The least I can do is help him escape! And you are right, I'm not going to raise my baby up alone, because I'm going back there and getting my man! And we're going to raise this baby together even if I have to tear time and space apart to do it." Rose shouted as she ran for the TARDIS as fast as her feet could carry her.

All the while centuries later in the future Jack was readying hisr fellow fighters on floor 499 and wishing them luck as the battle for Earth had begun. The Satellite shook as the Daleks forced their way through the airlock of floor 494.

The old 'police box' sat unassumingly at the edge of the Powell Estate as Mickey and Rose puttered about inside trying to find a way to send it back to the Doctor along with Rose.

"All the TARDIS needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse." Declared Rose.

"Yeah, but we still can't do it." Stated Mickey frustrated with Rose's inability to let go of a lost cause. This false hope wasn't doing her any good in his eyes. Also even if she did go back it would not lead to anything good, she would be walking into a firing range, and she would die. Undaunted Rose replied without a hint of doubt,

"The Doctor always said the TARDIS was telepathic. This thing is alive. It can listen." Rose pointed to the TARDIS console for emphasis. Why was it so hard for people to grasp the concept that what appeared to be a machine could be alive? Why didn't she think of this first. Just ask the TARDIS to help, made perfect sense. Surely the TARDIS knew how to fly itself.

"It's not listening now, is it?" Scoffed Mickey, Rose was not swayed by his flippant comment.

"We need to get inside it. Last time I saw you, with the Slitheen, this middle bit opened, and there was this light, and the Doctor said it was the heart of the TARDIS. If we can open it, I can make contact. I can tell it what to do." Stated Rose as if it was the most obvious action to take. She had communicated with the TARDIS before but it was in feelings and nothing really as concrete as a conversation. You never really knew for sure if the TARDIS was paying attention to you after all. Rose wasn't even sure if she had the brain capacity to communicate with the TARDIS the way the Doctor could. She figured that she could equate the Doctor talking to the TARDIS like a human having a conversation, but her it was probably more like a human talking to a dog. You could guess what it wanted but you never really knew what it was saying, just feelings. You would pat a dog on the head ask it in a cute voice 'what was wrong?', and then ignore it when you got bored with what it was begging about. But what if you could bridge the gap and speak dog? What if inside the heart of the TARDIS she could talk one on one? She had to try. Rose could not operate the TARDIS by herself. She could assist with pulling levers and pushing buttons but the why and when of their actions was a mystery to her. Even if she had 1000 life times she could never get back to the Doctor by chance, but if she could just ask the TARDIS on equal footing to do this for her then maybe the Doctor would have a chance.

"Rose." Said Mickey simply as he got Rose's attention, she turned to face him and gave him a questioning look.

"If you go back, you're going to die." He said solemnly, wanting to make sure she knew what she was saying. Without hesitation she stated plainly,

"That's a risk I've got to take, because there's nothing left for us here."

"Nothing?" Asked Mickey with hurt on his voice. Rose couldn't look him in the eye and see that hurt so she looked ahead at the time rotor and said,

"No, we're staying together. As a family and that's all that's too it." Rose placed her hand on her abdomen and said a silent prayer that things would work out. She wasn't blind of the risk, but for the sake of her child having both her parents she had to try. Besides she would have been there anyway if the Doctor had not tricked her into the TARDIS and she was going to punch him for that. She had made him promise not to do something like this again and he had broken that promise. If the Doctor even had the gall to give her sass about coming back then she was going to sass him back about sending her away in the first place.

"Okay, if that's what you think, let's get this thing open." Declared Mickey, resigning himself to the fate that Rose had picked out for her and her famiy's future. He was not happy at all that he had agreed to possibly sending her off to her death, but if it made Rose happy then he was going to do it. He saw now that she couldn't live out her life regretting having done nothing.

* * *

The Dalek army slowly and quietly made its way through the station looking for victims to exterminate. Lynda watched in fear from her post on the Observation deck as they drew ever closer to her and her fellow fighters' positions.

"Okay, activate internal lasers. Slice them up." Ordered Jack to the group over the 494 communicator. The Floor Manager does so, but to no avail.

"Defenses have gone offline. The Dalek's have overridden the lot." Reported an upset Lynda. Faced with no other option the Floor Manager and other volunteers began shooting at the approaching Daleks with their weapons. Jack had told them to concentrate their fire in one location so that they would have the best chance at defeating the Daleks but things were once again not going their way. The bullets were simply absorbed into the forcefields around each Dalek. Feeling hopeless for her chance of survival the Floor Manager shouted over her comm to Jack,

"You lied to me! The bullets don't work!" She fired off her gun desperately but was promptly exterminated by a Dalek death ray along with her coworkers. The Daleks moved further up.

* * *

Mickey had fastened a heavy chain to the tow hitch on his small strictly for city driving car. The other end was fastened to the TARDIS console and looked quite comical. From a casual onlooker's point of view, he appeared to be trying to move a rickety old wooden police box with a car too weak to do even that. Maybe the chain was too heavy for the car to move. Mickey moved forward in his car slowly, trying to pull that bit of the console it was attached to it open, but with no results. He swore and wondered how hard it was to rip a bit of metal off that crazy box. Jackie simply watched on next to the box not thinking that much was going to come of this and not at all concerned that Mickey might pull the whole box with him first before breaking the console. She had caught up with the two and had found Mickey lugging a heavy chain from the mechanic's garage he worked at.

"Faster!" Encouraged Rose from inside as she watched the chain pulling at the console as taut as it could be. She was pretty sure that Mickey couldn't hear her but she had to do something. The car just continued to fruitlessly burn rubber as Mickey shouted his frustrations and Rose shouted the obvious that it wasn't moving. The chain finally broke and Rose kicked the console in frustration. Sod it, if it was alive it wasn't helping. Why did the TARDIS have to be so stubborn? Didn't she know that the Doctor was in danger? Rose lowered her head in defeat. She was feeling that she was close to exhausting her options. She was powerless and clueless as to how to help her husband. A worthless chav who couldn't do anything without the Doctor! She clambered over to the jump-seat, put her face in her hands and cried bitter tears. The automobile spectacle now over, Jackie walked cautiously into the strange alien environment and made her way over to her crying daughter. Rose was going to blame hormones for the minute and quickly tried to compose herself as she noticed her mother approaching.

* * *

"Advance guard have made it to four nine five." Stated Lynda from her post as the Doctor continued to work at the Delta wave. Under no small level of stress the Doctor asked Jack over the comm.,

"Jack. How're we doing?" With a boyish smirk on his face Jack simply answered,

"Four nine five should be good. I like four nine five." And on that floor the Daleks found themselves faced to face with a metallic being with a red top that they demanded to identity itself. This was surprisingly answered with the metallic being, Anne Droid, announcing as if it were still on the air,

"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" Three Daleks were then vaporizes in quick succession. Causing Jack to loudly cheer from his post above on floor 499. However this was short lived as the droid was quickly destroyed by the next wave of Daleks who had now caught on to the droids attack method.

"Proceed to next level." Chirped one of the Daleks as they moved out.

"They're flying up the ventilation shafts. No, wait a minute. Oh, my God. Why're they doing that? They're going down." Stated Lynda perplexed as she realized very quickly what it was the Daleks had planned. She heard the sounds of death rays, Daleks and people screaming as they died. Lynda turned off the sound on the console, she could not listen. The Daleks had deliberately gone out of their way to kill unarmed combatants.

"Floor Zero. They killed them all." Cried Lynda devastated.

* * *

Rose sat on the jump-seat staring off into space. She was pondering and trying to fight off deeper depression now that she had gotten the better of herself again. She was racking her brain for anything that she might have neglected. As hopeless as it seemed she just couldn't give up this was no time to start crying. Failure wasn't an option. Jackie felt so very bad for her daughter and her loss. Trying to talk reason into her Jackie soothed,

"It was never going to work, sweetheart. And the Doctor knew that. He just wanted the two of you to be safe." Jackie placed her hand on Rose's knee to add additional comfort.

"I can't give up." Stated Rose plainly dedicated to not leave the TARDIS until she had solved her problem."

"Lock the door. Walk away." Jackie stated firmly, but Rose was having none of it.

"Dad wouldn't give up." Said Rose.

"Well, he's not here, is he? And even if he was, he'd say the same." Stated Jackie not seeing why Rose would bring up her father at this moment. Rose knew that not to be true, she knew her father and announced,

"No, he wouldn't. He'd tell me to try anything. If I could save the Doctor's life, try anything." Rose had not a sliver of doubt in her voice, but Jackie was not convinced and said dismissively,

"Well, we're never going to know." Powering through Rose said,

"Well, I know because I met him. I met Dad." Jackie knew that was impossible and with a look that was a cross between disbelief and an affronted sneer told her not to be ridiculous. That was impossible. Rose only knew Pete as a little baby and that wasn't enough time or with a developed enough mind to get to know someone or how they would think. Rose could see that Jackie's mind was not accustomed to wrapping itself around time travel at the moment and explained,

"The Doctor took me back in time, and I met Dad." Those words made Jackie hurt, she didn't know if it was the teasing concept of being able to see the man she missed alive again with this box. Or just years of emotions never addressed finally coming out, but it hurt. It couldn't be true, Pete was dead and no wishing was ever going to bring him back. It was cruel to say and she didn't want to think about it.

"Don't say that." Demanded Jackie starting to look like she might tear up, she didn't want to think about Pete. Or the impossible idea of Rose going back and seeing him.

"Remember when Dad died? There was someone with him. A girl, a blonde girl. She held his hand. You saw her from a distance, Mum. You saw her! Think about it. That was me. You saw me." Cried Rose trying to force her mother to see sense and that she was being truthful. Jackie demanded her to stop but Rose pressed on,

"That's how good the Doctor is."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Shouted Jackie and overcome with emotion she ran out of the TARDIS. Rose broke down, that had been a lot of emotion out of her as well trying to convince her mother. She had never told her mother about that visit to see her father, it just seemed like it was too raw a subject. What is the easy way to say to your mother that you saw their dead husband alive? Maybe she worried that her mother would want to go back and say 'hi' too. Only that wasn't in the equation anymore since Rose was already part of that timeline and to go back would be too risky. Better to say nothing. She was also upset at the reaction she had caused in her mother. Rose knew that her mother hurt from that time so long ago. That had just been the first time Rose had seen so powerful a reaction without the aid of alcohol in her mother. It also made Rose think about all the wonderful things that the Doctor had done for her. What he had risked solely for the purpose of making her happy. The walks they shared on distant worlds, the treats he'd bring her, his smile, the hugs, cuddles, kisses she gave him. All the wonderful things he did just to make her smile and the things he would do to make up for the times when he did upset her or make her sad. All those wonderful memories. How she could ever repay him for them? She loved him. She wanted to see him again and she didn't if or how she ever would. She wanted her Doctor.

Looking over her memories, all what Rose said fell perfectly into place to Jackie. It was as if she had been there herself, and if that was the case, what the Doctor had done for Rose. He had given Rose a chance that Jackie had always longed to give her daughter, the chance to see and be with their loved one again. Well then Jackie had to give the Doctor the same chance too, if she could. That damn Doctor son-in-law of hers sometimes made it very hard for her not to like him.

* * *

"Lynda! What's happening on Earth?" Asked the Doctor as he pulled at some cables. Lynda looked on at the Earth, feeling quite powerless and stated in disbelief,

"The Fleet's descending. They're bombing whole continents. Europa, Pacifica, the New American Alliance. Australasia's just gone." She watched the familiar topography of her planet warp under alien death rays and could only imagine the death and suffering.

"Floor 499, we're the last defense. The bullets should work if you concentrate them on the Dalek's eyestalk. I've got the forcefield at maximum so Dalek fire power should be at its weakest." Commanded Jack as he instructed the final line of defense on the way to best combat the Daleks. He had heard Lynda's report and knew that it was grim. There wasn't anything left to do but buy the Doctor enough time to finish his delta wave and kill them all before the Daleks could go forth and wreak havoc on the rest of the universe. Jack got into position and overheard Pavale and his female coworker talking.

"I'm only here because of you. I joined the Program because you were on it." Stated Pavale, not sounding like a stalker but a pursuer of her affections. Since they were going to be dead in a few minutes, there wasn't any point to hold back his feelings now. Funny how deadly situation made you reevaluate your priorities. And right now his two priorities were protecting the planet and her.

"Am I supposed to say, when this is all over and if we're still alive, maybe we could go for a drink?" She asked incredulously.

"That'd be nice." Smiled Pavale timidly.

"Yeah, well, tough." Said the Woman but she still gave him a wink and a smile. Pavale sure hoped they lived. Jack, although he had not gotten along well with the staff of this space station, was not without some sympathy. He hoped that these 'star crossed' lovers might survive, though he knew they probably wouldn't.

* * *

Mickey and Rose stood outside the TARDIS leaning against Mickey's car and just stared at the TARDIS trying to think of what to do next. They were determined to succeed but still had not figured out how and were feeling rather frustrated for it. Mickey just looked at that blue box. It was the source of so many jumbled emotions to him but right now it was simply mocking him by refusing to open up and let her Ex-girlfriend fly off to her death…How many blokes would be happy to see that happen and he was dreading it, because it would make him sad. But anxious for it because it would make Rose happy.

"There's got to be something else we can do." Mused Mickey to which Rose starting to wonder if her dream to save the Doctor had just been just that, a pipe dream, beyond the technological capabilities and understanding of a bipedal ape. Maybe she had been the emotionally unreasonable and irrational one and her Mum and Mickey had been right. Maybe she was too blind to see how crazy she had been from loss, she replied in a defeated voice,

"Mum was right. Maybe we should just lock the door and walk away. Mum must have been emotional when she found herself left widowed and with a child too. Maybe that's how I am right now and I just can't see it yet…" Mickey was not having that. He had suffered too long and hard to claim any form of defeat now. His Ex-Girlfriend, Rose, was going to be happy, damn it or else! The Doctor wins if they can't send her back. No other man was ever going to be good enough for her now, he'd wrecked her for anyone else and he wasn't going to watch her be miserable when he could help make her happy. And to be happy, she needed that stupid alien. The Doctor was always going on about how stupid humans were and well he knew that they could be quite clever with enough motivation. And making Rose happy, proving the Doctor wrong, and permission to wreck part to the TARDIS was plenty motivation for Mickey Smith.

"I'm not having that. I'm not having you just, just give up now. No way. We just need something stronger than my car. Something bigger. Something like that." Said Mickey not accepting Rose's defeat and not believing what he was seeing coming down the street. Driven by Jackie no less. Tyler women, they would be the death of him yet. A big yellow recovery truck stopped by the TARDIS and out popped Jackie. Rose and Mickey stared up at Jackie gob smacked as she double parked the Rescue vehicle next to Mickey's tiny car.

"Right, you've only got this until six o'clock, so get on with it." Stated Jackie as if borrowing a giant vehicle for a few hours was nothing. 'Mum, you are a super hero!' thought Rose to herself.

"Mum, where the hell did you get that from?" Asked Rose with her eyes wide and an even wider smile, not believing what her mother had done.

"Rodrigo. He owes me a favor. Never mind why, but you were right about your Dad, sweetheart. He was full of mad ideas, and it's exactly what he would've done. Now, get on with it before I change my mind." Declared Jackie as she tossed the keys to the mammoth truck to Mickey. Who cautiously climbed into it, he could drive this….no problem. Jackie stood back to watch the show and Rose ran back into the TARDIS to help with the chain. She'd get back to her Doctor yet.

* * *

"Open fire!" Shouted Jack Harkness as the Daleks drew near. The Doctor heard the gunfire and rushed to plug in the massive power cable he was holding. He had so little time left and he knew the Daleks would get through, that was a given. The last defenders of humanity were firing through slits in pieces of bulkhead that they had set up as a perimeter to help shield them and so that their positions were not as obvious. The shielding was on but it was not going to be enough to stop Dalek death rays. The luckiest livable wound they could hope for was a flesh wound or rather more like a scratch wound. That being said the group was emptying out all the ammo they had on the eyestalks of their enemies. The Daleks didn't seem to care.

"It's not working!" Declared Pavale to Jack.

"Concentrate your fire! Eyestalk, two o'clock!" Commanded Jack. Pavale's woman coworker landed a shot at one Dalek's eyestalk and it got through.

"My vision is impaired! I cannot see!" Shouted a Dalek now that its eyestalk was damaged. The woman cheered their success but this was not for long as she was then promptly exterminated by another Dalek. Pavale now driven mad at the loss of the woman he admired so shouted in anger and showing himself to the Dalek, fired over the top of the barricade. His passion driven action only bought him a faster trip to join his beloved in death.

She knew it would come and she was surprisingly calm about it thought Lynda as she stood watching the mayhem from the Observation gallery. The Daleks were coming for her and slowly she turned her head.

"I've got a problem…" She announced to the Doctor who she was sure was probably the only one left alive besides herself. Still, not bad being the second left standing.

"Human female detected." Said a cold and metallic voice through the giant metal door that shielded her.

"…They've found me." She continued still calm, what was the point in freaking out now. Wouldn't do her any good. In vain the Doctor assured her

"You'll be all right, Lynda. That side of the station's reinforced against meteors."

"Hope so! You know what they say about Earth workmanship." She joked in a weak voice as she watched flames cut through door. She supposed she should be flattered that they were putting so much effort just to see her. Then she turned around so not to watch only to have her humor and heart sink. Four Daleks were rising up outside the big window in space. One's light flashed as if it were speaking. She didn't need to hear it; she had heard it enough to know what it was saying. It fired its weapon, breaking the glass and she screamed just once then she was in space and all was silent. The Doctor heard Lynda's scream over the comm. and he knew what had happened. He felt sadness and gut wrenching guilt. He had said that he would get her out of this alive and indeed he had wanted to. But that had been before he had known Daleks were involve still he felt that it was another broken promise and dark spot on the darkened husk he called his soul. There was no time to mourn he had to finish the Delta wave.

**Author's Notes:** Poor Lynda with a 'y'. Anyway Rose will hopefully be saving the Doctor soon. Sit tight, only one chapter left and this story is over. Then it's onto the next one, which I hope you will follow too. Here is hoping that I wasn't too tired when I proofed this.


	61. Chapter 61- The SheWolf's Mate

**Complicated**

By the Plot Thinens

**Chapter 61 Parting of the ways** - **The SheWolf's Mate**

"Last man standing! For God's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them!" Shouted Jack in desperation as he ran backwards while shooting at the approaching Daleks. He was trying to slow them down and buy the Doctor more time. They were running out of time.

"Finish that thing and kill mankind." Mocked the Dalek Emperor to the Doctor over the viewscreen behind the Doctor's back.

* * *

Back on the Powell Estate, with determination Mickey floored the gas on the rescue vehicle he drove. It was attached to the TARDIS console by a chain. That chain was feeling ever more tension as Jackie barked orders from outside the TARDIS to Mickey in the rescue vehicle. Rose, who was back inside the TARDIS, offered much of the same encouragement for Mickey to keep flooring it! Rose could tell that they were almost there. Just a few more pulls and this stubborn TARDIS would open up and they would have a chat.

The rescue vehicle had done its job and with one more mighty pull the console finally burst open and a blinding golden light emitted from it. Rose cautiously walked into the path of the light and looked inside of the heart of the TARDIS. It was warm, and comforting and glorious. Golden energy streamed into Rose's eyes and her communication with the TARDIS, soon to be oneness with the TARDIS, began. The two beings knew what needed to be done to rescue their Time Lord and without thought the two beings became one and absorbed the whole of the Time Vortex.

Rose didn't know what would happen. Would she be killed by doing this was she sentencing not just herself but her child to death as well? No, the Slitheen had needed a second chance and that was the best way to give it to her. By setting back time and giving her a fresh start. It had to be a case by case issue. Rose had to believe that the TARDIS would never cause harm to her or her baby. She knew the TARDIS liked her and she knew that the TARDIS loved her baby and the Doctor. That was two things that they had in common. Rose knew who she needed to survive and she trusted that the TARDIS felt that saving the Doctor was as much as a necessity as Rose thought it was.

"Rose!" Shouted Mickey as he tried to reach the TARDIS, only to have its doors close in his face. No one else was coming along on this trip but Rose it seemed. Then the TARDIS dematerialized and Mickey and Jackie wondered if they would ever see Rose again.

* * *

"Doctor, you've got twenty seconds maximum!" Yelled Jack from Floor 500 to the Doctor who was yards away from his position. All the while, unknown to anyone on that station, the TARDIS was hurtling through time, and all this time continuing to send energy into Rose.

Jack emptied the last of his bullets from his gun and after running out, he threw away his machine gun-looking weapon and took out a small pistol. Much as the samurai might use their smaller sword as a last resort in combat, Jack shot off the pistol until the clip was empty. He had given it his all and now tossed away his last weapon. Unafraid he stood in front of the Daleks impatiently waiting for them to get on with it. The Dalek shouted the obvious,

"Exterminate." Jack looked unimpressed and declared,

"I kind of figured that." He outstretched his arms and the Dalek shot him with a blast that threw him back against the lift. The brave Captain was dead. It was at that instant that the Doctor had finished putting the last touches on the delta wave device and resting his tired hands on it let out a sigh of relief.

"It's ready!" Announced the Doctor to himself in disbelief as Daleks entered the room from all entryways effectively surrounding him.

"You really want to think about this, because if I activate the signal, every living creature dies." Hissed the Doctor to his hated enemy. Unworried of death the Emperor stated,

"I am immortal."

"Do you want to put that to the test?" Dared the Doctor with his hands still on the activation lever.

"I want to see you become like me. Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator." Mocked the Emperor. The Doctor was unnerved by the statement, but gripped his hands tightly on the lever to the Delta wave and declared,

"I'll do it!" The Emperor was not convinced and tired of talk. It scoffed in return,

"Then prove yourself, Doctor. What are you, coward or killer?" The Doctor gripped the Switch again, but he could not bring himself to be the one to destroy another race of beings. Not again, he was old and tired of killing, if there was to be more blood today, he couldn't be the one to cause it. He let his hands drop and stated,

"Coward. Any day." He'd rather die not killing than the other way around. The Emperor knew the Doctor and knew that this was always what would ultimately happen. The Doctor had too many crippling emotions. This was the foresight and knowledge of God that the little mortal heathen known as the Doctor could never foresee. In victory the Emperor decreed,

"Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness." The Doctor accepted this. Something horrible was going to happen to humanity either way but hopefully he would not live to see it at the Daleks' 'hands'. Or maybe the Doctor would, the Daleks claimed to have no emotions but they did still seem to like to rub victory in other's faces. Maybe they would keep him alive to view the horror.

"And what about me? Am I becoming one of your angels?" The Doctor asked.  
"You are the heathen. You will be exterminated." Shouted the Emperor over the viewscreen.

"Maybe it's time." Said the Doctor in a peaceful voice after all he saw and experienced in war, he did not fear death. After all death had been what he was for so long hunting for, but then things changed and he made new friends and yes a family. He did not fear death just regretted that it come so soon now that he was feeling again like he had had something to live for. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable peace that would hopefully come after the agonizing pain. But he would not think about the pain, no. He thought about the time that he and Rose were in the bath together in Japan and how much more special that hug and time would have been if he knew then about the baby. But that was his fault not Rose's. Every seed of fear and doubt she had for his affections and love had been planted and sowed by himself. He would die lonely with very many regrets and memories that could have been sweeter but were hindered by his own fears and inaction. He was always a coward.

'Oh Rose, I was a better man when I was just an ape. At least then I had the courage to tell you how I felt about you. That was the man you deserved and deserved you more than I ever could or had.' He thought. She would find someone else she was too wonderful not to. He wondered what their child would have looked like, was it a boy or a girl, who would they take after? Hopefully they wouldn't be as jeopardy friendly as their mother. He'd never know. He, a Time Lord, had no time left to discover those wonderful mysteries, very ironic. He wished he could have helped raise their child and teach them about their heritage. He knew that the baby would have their human family, but he worried that they would always feel different from other humans. Well they were different. And although Rose could explain why that was, she wouldn't be able to give them the history and knowledge that he wanted to pass on. Maybe they would be clever enough to learn a bit on their own with the help of the TARDIS Library. If Rose let them inside the old girl. Or maybe Rose would take his advice and leave it all behind and live out her fantastic life with her child with none of this daft alien nonsense he had unknowingly forced on her life so many months ago. Again he would never know and now he was going to die. As he deserved. And like the deadbeat he was he couldn't even give Rose, at the very least, child support. He really had become domestic if at the end of his long Time Lord life he was thinking about child support.

He then thought of something else. Without opening his eyes the Doctor quickly slipped his hand into his pocket and retrieved John Smith's wedding band, his wedding band, off the Sonic and placed it on his left ring finger. He felt like a pretender for doing this now and not sooner. As he felt the cool metal on his skin he cursed himself for any pain he had caused Rose by having removed it months ago. Or for even thinking of tossing it into a body of water. He knew that Rose had noticed when he had removed it, she had never said anything but he knew it had upset her. It was a statement and a promise and he wanted to wear it now, even though he knew he did not deserve to. But he felt in his hearts that Rose would have wanted to see him wearing it again so he let himself wear it. 'Oh well, at least I'll die a married man, even if I was lousy at it.', thought the Doctor as he tried to relax his mind before the end. Then suddenly something began to materialize behind him and the pure absurdity of it convinced him that it was so impossible that his very large mind had not registered it.

"Alert! TARDIS materializing!" Shouted a Dalek.

'What in the name of Rassilon's…?' Thought the Doctor for the 3 microseconds it took his brain to realize that the TARDIS had come back to him as he opened his eyes. 'How?' Was the big question on his mind as he turned around to see his beautiful Time and Space ship appear before him in all its glowy and boxy glory.

"You will not escape!" Roared the Dalek Emperor over the viewscreen. How arrogant was the Time Lord to think that he could escape so easily from his perfect Dalek race? He was like a crawling ant by comparison to just one of his soldier children. Then the mood of the room changed as the TARDIS doors opened and Rose, silhouetted in a blinding golden light emerged. Energy tendrils snaked outward and in her wake as she appeared, not walked, out of the TARDIS. The Doctor was struck with the fear of a mere mortal before an all powerful god and shrank back in fear on to the floor. Golden lights emitted from this Goddess-like figure and through squinting eyes he managed to finally recognize the being before him. No, not being element, somehow this force of nature was Rose Tyler Smith. He knew not how Rose had done this, there were too many questions to even start naming them off. All he could managed to ask from her was in a slightly terrified voice was,

"What've you done?" When Rose had left she was a mere mortal and now she was a goddess. The Goddess looked down on her beloved Doctor, the person who through all the thoughts of all of time and space that flooded her mind was clear as a crystal to her. And with all of time and space to distract her was the center of her interest and concerns. This being was in danger and needed her protection. Now that she was here, he would be in danger no more. Nothing would bring harm to her mate, the father of the child her vessel carried, without facing the all devouring wrath of the Time Vortex Goddess, the Bad Wolf. She saw that her beloved was frightened and confused and she sought to alleviate his anxieties,

"I looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into me." The Goddess explained, but this had the opposite effect, as now the Doctor knew what she was. The Doctor was horrified at the drastic thing that Rose had done to get back to him. He had once more underestimated Rose, her ingenuity, and her stubbornness. This was dangerous what she had done and he should have thought of this, but how was he to plan out of all the infinite possibilities in the universe on Rose transcending to a god-like state to get back to him?

"You looked into the Time Vortex. Rose, no one's meant to see that!" He warned as he stared into the eternal power that looked out of Rose's ever so familiar eyes that were now glowing golden. Their conversation was then interrupted by the Emperor, disgusted with the thing before him, shouted out to his children,

"This is the Abomination!" Looking to please his God one of the Daleks trained his weapon the glowing figure, that was almost too bright for it to see, and screamed,

"Exterminate!" The Dalek shot off its death ray at Rose, but she merely held up her hand and eyes glowing stopped the beam with said hand. Effortlessly she held off the feared weapon sending it back harmlessly to where it came from. Clearly they did not understand who she was and to clarify in order to avoid any more confusion or assumptions that she could be harmed announced,

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself." She then turned her head up to the ceiling where the words 'Bad Wolf Corporation' were written on the wall. As if by magic she held up her hand and the words 'Bad Wolf' peeled off and shot off into time and space to do her bidding.

"I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." Explained the Bad Wolf, who in doing so had created a paradox that led to designing her own creation. Bad Wolf would be everywhere throughout time and space until it would lead Rose back to her Doctor. Things she was putting into motion that in her infinite knowledge of all would serve and protect when needed. She did it all at once as all of time to her was happening at once so it was of no concern how far forward or back she would place her assistance. The Doctor was in awe of her but at the same time was afraid for her. Rose was just a human or at least her body was still and a human body could not hold this amount of power for long without consequence.

"Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn." Cried out the Doctor to his Rose, he could see that she was too overwhelmed with power to see what was happening to her. He needed to save her, he could not lose her or their child to this.

"I want you safe. My Doctor. We both want you safe. Protected from the false god." Said the Bad Wolf in a form of clarity that the Doctor recognized more as Rose. Rose held her hand on her abdomen indicating who else wanted him safe as tendrils of power swirled around that area on her body as well.

"You cannot hurt me. I am immortal." Stated the Emperor. Rose and the Heart of the TARDIS were one being she wasn't controlling the Time Vortex, she was the vortex and that title demanded a respect that the Dalek Emperor clearly was not paying. It was too deluded and sick to realize that it was a mortal playing with a Goddess and that Goddess was angry with it. Tired of its ramblings her voice boomed,

"You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence, and I divide them." The Bad Wolf held up her hand again and the Daleks in the room before her began to gently disintegrate into nothing, as if they were never there to begin with. All that was left was dust on the ground where Daleks had been.

"Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies." Said the Bad Wolf almost in a mourning voice at the knowledge of this simple truth. Everything no matter how precious was meant to come to an end eventually. It pained her and as her mind stretched out more across time she saw the pain that a war had caused for her Doctor and she had to end it. She needed to finish what her poor beloved had been forced to start.

"The Time War ends." Said the Bad Wolf as more Daleks in space and their ships began to turn to golden dust.

"I will not die. I cannot die!" Shouted the Dalek Emperor in disbelief as it and its spaceship disappeared in a golden wave until only empty space remained. The Bad Wolf had done all this, she had saved the world and her Doctor. But there was more good for her to do. However, someone else did not see it that way.

"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." Begged the Doctor as he saw what was happening to Rose, she would burn out at this rate, humans were not meant to hold such power. He could not lose her to this, he could not lose his whole family. Unfortunately the Bad Wolf, still did not in all that she could see, see the danger that she was in, what he asked seemed so impossible. How does one give up something so wonderful?

"How can I let go of this? I bring life." Stated Rose as she breathed life back into her dead friend, Jack. He woke up with a stuttered breath and began to take stock of what had just happened to him.

"You're already are doing that as just you, Rose. Don't you see what you are doing now? This is wrong! You can't control life and death." The Doctor pleaded with Rose. What she saw, what she could do, all the help she could provide. Rose was losing herself to the power and being carried away by it. She could not see the danger that was her vessel's limitations. She could literally do everything and nothing at the same time with but a thought.

"But I can… The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?" Asked the Bad Wolf only now realizing that something was wrong and she was in pain, even though she had all this wonderful power, still it hurt. Why was it doing that? Why couldn't she stop it, was there any way to stop the pain? There didn't seem to be any and she was growing weaker. The Doctor looked down and shook his head before looking back up at his dying wife and mourned,

"The power's going to kill you, and our child, and it's my fault." Rose, the Bad Wolf, looked down in pity at her grieving Time Lord. She saw infinite possibilities of what the future could hold for them. There were good paths, bad paths, painful times even on the good ones, there were so many ways that existence could go. She was choked up all at once by all the misery and wonderfulness that could happen to them. How did one live everyday knowing what could happen and trying to avoid anything bad just to try and get to what you think, at the time, is the best possibility of what could happen? And then that might not even pan out right. It was maddening.

"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be." There was now no one else in the known universe that could understand what the Doctor went through everyday then this being in front of him. He had never had more in common with Rose, than he had at this moment. She had learned to understand him and he loved her for it. And he needed to save her from herself and thought that he finally knew how he could do it.

"That's what I see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?" Rose sadly looked up into her Doctor's blue eyes. She had a terrible pain in her head, but somehow she knew that the Doctor could give her relief and comfort. She moved closer to him.

"My head..." She lamented in pain and the Doctor looked with sympathetic eyes at this poor wonderful creature that was also his wife, Rose. He soothed in a voice that was as comforting as it was suggestive,

"Come here."

"It's killing me." Moaned the Bad Wolf in pain.

"I think you need a Doctor." He smirked as he pulled Rose close to him and with anticipation placed a gentle but firm kiss on Rose's lips. As soon as their lips made contact the golden energy of the Bad Wolf began to transfer from her eyes to his. Though unbeknown to them not all of it transferred to the Doctor a small bit of it, and small enough to safely offer no threat, stubbornly remained and buried itself deep into its Vessels heart and the heart of the other being that existed with said vessel. It had learned its lesson that even Goddesses needed to place limits and barriers on themselves, it would not allow what would happen to its vessel's mate now, happen again. Believing himself successful in his objective the Doctor pulled out of the kiss and then Rose spent from her ordeal fainted in his arms.

The Doctor exhaled the energy back into the TARDIS and its doors closed. The doctor faltered a bit from the energy transfer, he knew what very well might be happening now. But he quickly caught eye of Rose sleeping peacefully on the floor and stoop down to stroke her cheek and hair. Oh, how he loved this woman and if he had time he would show Rose that everyday so that she would never question it again, but that wasn't looking like it would be the case. Not now, but still if it wasn't for Rose he wouldn't have the chance to try to make that true at all. A dodgy process was to follow and he didn't know how that would feel towards Rose if changing from human and then back to his normal self was to be used as an example. He prayed that he later would have the sense to worship Rose like the Goddess she clearly was.

"Rose, you wonderful and impossible thing. Come on, up we go. Alright little one, let's get Mum inside shall we. She's had a busy day." He then picked Rose up and laid another kiss on her sleeping lips, the last kiss had been too short for his liking. What he did, he'd done to save Rose, but in truth he had wanted to do that all along, even from the beginning. He knew that his time was short and that soon he would lose the use of these lips for another pair he would have to eventually become accustomed to. He hoped he would still be a fantastic kisser. He carried Rose into the TARDIS and gently placed her on the floor next to the console. He laid her head down gently, kissing her once more and mourning that it should feel very different kissing her later on. If she even wanted to kiss him then, what if he became uglier than he was now? He didn't want to change. He liked how kissing felt now and it seemed a waste to change so soon after having done once already. Still time was short and he had things to do as he was now. He placed his hand on her abdomen and lifting her shirt up slightly to expose her stomach, that he now could clearly see was a little bigger than normal, and placed a gentle kiss over the flesh that housed his child. It was important for him to do something as domestic as this while he was still him. It was ironic that he was racing to squeeze in domestics after spending so long racing away from them. Domestics also meant responsibilities to his family. He worried for his child and reached out to their developing mind and did not see any immediate stress or danger on the little one for their ordeal.

"You seem well for the moment, but you are getting a thorough look over once your old man is done doing what I have to do. Mind you I'd rather not and stay with you and Mummy, but your Dad can't help that now. Sorry, and I hope that you get on well with me, after I change. Your Mum too for that matter. Part of me can't help being worried that Mummy might think I'm too much to deal with after this. It's happened before in the past with other companions. But Mummy is more than just a companion to me and I hope that things will be different than with those in the past." Said the Doctor to his unborn child. He then pulled Rose's shirt back down, he didn't want her catching cold, and made his way to the console to put the TARDIS into the vortex.

* * *

Jack was now completely aware of what had happened. He had been killed, exterminated, but somehow he was alive. Well, if there was anyone who could help explain to him what had happened, it was the Doctor. He got up and picked up a handful of Dalek dust from the floor. He wondered where had the Dalek that were just in front of him a moment ago had gone and he worried for the Doctor. Suddenly he heard the engines of the TARDIS and he knew what that sound meant. He then rushed toward the sound of the TARDIS unsure of what was happening, but it seemed that it was leaving without him. He finally arrived in the room that the sound was coming from but he was too late. The TARDIS had dematerialized, leaving him stranded. What was he to do now, and why was he left behind? These would be questions that would haunt him for quite some time.

* * *

"What happened?" Asked Rose as she came back to the waking world and the familiar hum of the TARDIS. She looked around at the Console room. She remembered she had been doing something important. She remembered being someplace, but where?

"Don't you remember?" Asked the Doctor, leaning against the console. Rose scrunched her face and tried to remember what she had been doing and what had happened. But to her frustration all she could recall was the singing. Singing of time…

"It's like there was this singing." Said Rose as she commented on the song in her head that there was now a faint echo of.

"That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks ran away." Joked the Doctor to his confused wife, he figured that once she had come around that she might have some memory loss. Mortals were not meant to hold all the knowledge of a god, so she probably just forgot it. Shame that had been a great kiss he hoped that she could at least remember that about him, if this was really it.

"I was at home. No, I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS, and there was this light. I can't remember anything else…" Said Rose trying to gather her thoughts, it was like waking from sleep before your brain did completely. Nothing was coming to her, but she had been trying to get back and save the Doctor, and now here he was in the TARDIS with her, alive and well. She was relieved and as soon as her head stopped spinning she was going to get up, snog the lips off him, run her hand through his cropped hair, grab him by those ears and have her way with him right there in the console room if she had to. Nothing was going to stop her, she thought as she started sitting up. The Doctor smiled at Rose, his skin was pulsing with regenerative energy now and any hope that this body would somehow survive were dashed. There was no denying it and he had to marvel at how much this would change his plans now.

"Rose Tyler Smith. I was going take you to so many places. Barcelona. Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place. Really nice hotel suites too, perfect for a honeymoon. Oh and they've got dogs with no noses. Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny." Chuckled the Doctor, time was almost up. He wanted to kiss her again, before he went but he couldn't risk her getting any closer to her when he changed. He had so much he wanted to do with her and he felt cheated out of that time. Even though he had loved the time he spent with Rose, he still felt like he had wasted or squandered all that he could have got out of it. He guessed he never could have enough time with Rose.

"Then, why can't we go?" Asked Rose, puzzled as to what was stopping them from going off to have another adventure together. They were both alive and unharmed so what was the hold up? Not that she didn't mind holding up with him for a few days in the TARDIS after what they had just gone through. It was a possibility that they could go and do those things still, but the Doctor just didn't know. He didn't know what he would like or dislike or even, Rassilon forbid, if he would be an even bigger jerk and kick Rose out of the TARDIS. He would find some way to kill himself if he ever did something like that to Rose. It was a dodgy process but surely his love for Rose would bleed through the regeneration. He hoped that his love would be the same and unchanged, but there was no way to determine that. He was now becoming scared for himself and his family. What if he tried to hurt them while sick from regeneration? No, never. If he had to keep any thoughts in his mind through the burning that would follow it was that he was made for Rose, and he would be a good father. Not being able to give any better of an answer the Doctor declared in a mournful voice,

"Maybe you will, and maybe I will. But not like this. Not with this daft old face. Too bad, I think it's a quite handsome face, now that I'm starting to miss it already."

"You're not making sense." Said Rose in a worried voice that the Doctor might have suffered a head injury through all this as she shakily approached him, her lust now eclipsed by her concern for her husband.

"I might never make sense again. I might have two heads, or no head. Imagine me with no head. And don't say that's an improvement. But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're going to end up with…" Explained the Doctor as he doubled over in pain. Rose now properly horrified began to run over to his side shouting his name, but her efforts were stopped by her husband's loud demand. This stopped and surprised her.

"Stay away!" Ordered the Doctor as he felt his body scream with regenerative energy taking effect as his current body continued to fail on him. 'Oh there goes another one of my kidneys.' Groaned the Doctor to himself.

"Doctor, tell me what's going on." Asked Rose panicked as she clung to a coral strut and watched him in confusion.

"I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that. Every cell in my body's dying." Said the Doctor as he hugged his body in pain, but still trying to keep up a cheerful front as he was dying in front of her. 'Oh my cellular structure in my brain is breaking down now. Better talk while I still can.' Thought the Doctor.

"Can't you do something?" Implored Rose, horrified that she found herself back with her husband only to discover that he was now dying.

"Yeah, I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick, it's sort of a way of cheating death. Except it means I'm going to change, and I'm not going to see you again... Not like this... Not with this daft old face. And before I go…" Explained the Doctor in a pained voice. 'There goes my left heart' mourned the Doctor. I hate to leave her like this.' Lamented the Doctor to himself.

"Don't say that." Interrupted Rose, not wanting the Doctor to speak of such things as if by not saying it would keep it from happening.

"Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic." Smiled the Doctor and Rose smiled back.

"And do you know what?" Asked the Doctor to which Rose gestured that she didn't have a clue, and smiling the Doctor replied,

"So was I."

Golden light burst out of the Doctor's body. The body of the Doctor seemed to melt away in a shower of violent and dangerous looking flame-like lights. The face with its blue eyes, larger nose, ears and roman features burned away to reveal a new face that Rose had never seen before. Once this frightening process was over the man who had been standing where the Doctor was, was panting heavily from his ordeal. What had happened to the Doctor and who was this new person standing there? He took a few unsteady steps in place trying to keep his balance. The clothing on him looked rather comically out of place on his scraggily frame and now having gathered his thoughts, looked up at Rose with loving eyes.

"Hello. Okay… Ooo, new teeth. That's weird. So, where was I? Oh, that's right. Barcelona." Smiled the brown hair, brown eyed scrawny looking man. Rose kept staring.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry folks but you knew what was going to happen eventually. If you would like to know what happens next then you will have to follow my new Story, Complications. Not even that much of a name change to adjust to…hope that doesn't confuse people, but I'm rubbish at names. And sorry guys again that I killed him off, but nine had a good run and a few more adventures too.


	62. End Notes

Sorry for the teaser guys. I just needed to give you some information about what is happening around here and to apologize for a blunder that needs fixing. Hopefully it won't be too much to forgive.

* * *

As you know, Complicated has officially ended and will continue into the sequel, Complications. I jump around a lot when I write and I write down a lot if notes, but... sometimes I forget things. I forgot something in chapter 61 that I had been planing for months to put in and it is a story point that I need for the chapter I am working on. I could try to write around it but I really want it in there and I don't know how I came to forget that point. Hope this doesn't wreck your reading experience with me. So I apologize, but I have added one more paragraph to chapter 61. If you want to read it, then so you don't have to read through the whole chapter. The new paragraph is just before the TARDIS materializes back onto the Game Station.

I'm really pissed with myself because I feel like I threw off the whole flow of the story by forcing you to look back...Well not like I haven't made little changes before, but I consider this an important change. Well I learned my lesson, and at least its easy enough to edit.

* * *

**IF have started reading this story after today's date, then please ignore this note.**


End file.
